<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Belong by TrueBlueSonic</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27099745">Belong</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrueBlueSonic/pseuds/TrueBlueSonic'>TrueBlueSonic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Torture, SEGA has decided that Silver is not allowed to have nice things and I can only oblige, Silver is gentle patient bean with the occasional temper, Venice has the Trauma Past, Venice is Scared but he will get better I promise, brotherly bond, but he does find a friend in Venice so that's something!, nothing graphic happens but there are some mentions of, there is lots of affection between them though, this has some headcanons but nothing majorly character-changing, this isn't a ship work I try to keep them more as brothers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 04:20:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>60,570</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27099745</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrueBlueSonic/pseuds/TrueBlueSonic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In a frozen, ruined city in his era, Silver finds a mysterious hedgehog who looks near-identical to him, who he names Venice. Together, they make their way through Frozen City and the past to try and undo this disaster. But just who is Venice? And what happened to make the future this way?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Silver the Hedgehog &amp; Venice the Mink</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1: The Escape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi everyone! One day I decided to come up with an AU wherein Silver meets Venice in a ruined future, and together they travel back to the past to try and undo it... and it has resulted in this fic! As for where it is located in the canon, it takes place right after the events of the Metal Virus saga in IDW Sonic, and also borrows one/a few element from the Archie Sonic comics, which you will see in this first chapter. I have planned out most of the plot and what I want to happen, along with how it will end, but this is the first fanfic I have ever written, so who knows what it is going to result in in the future (hehe)</p><p>For anyone who doesn't know this, Silver went through 50+ designs when they were creating him for Sonic '06, and one of the ideas the team had was of a mink named Venice. While we never saw Venice's design in-game, as they feared a mink would not fit in with the rest of the characters, we do have a coloured piece of concept art for him, and some people have used it to create art and fanfics. I guess I belong to that group now as well :D</p><p>Also I know the first chapter is very short, but trust me, I easily go past 2000 words in later chapters. There's more coming soon!</p><p>If you want to leave a review about what you liked and how I can improve (e.g. about my writing style), feel free to!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was floating in darkness…</p>
<p>“Project PK-HMH is stable again. We will wait until it has woken up more, then commence with the next experiment.”</p>
<p>How had he ended up here?</p>
<p>“The organism is waking up now. We shall begin another trial.”</p>
<p>Why was it him?</p>
<p>“Project PK-HMH appears to be growing unstable once more. I suggest we cease experimentation for today.”</p>
<p>They always hurt him…</p>
<p>“Inject a stabiliser, then continue the test. Our research cannot be dependent on the whims on such a creature.”</p>
<p>He had to escape…</p>
<p>“Stabiliser is ready… hm?”</p>
<p>He had to escape!</p>
<p>“Warning! We’re measuring critical levels of psychic energy! If this continues, it might- AAAH!”</p>
<p>Ivory eyelids tore open as blue eyes frantically glanced around the room, while he felt his powers burst out of his hands and his mind uncontrollably. Glass shattered and objects he couldn’t have known the name of were torn apart, as shockwave after shockwave of energy raced through the room. In front of him, he felt reality <em>tear,</em> opening up into a portal coloured bright purple. He wasted no time. With what little strength he had left in his body, he flung himself into it, not caring about its destination as long as he got away from there. With the experiment disappearing in its depth, the portal closed after him, leaving behind a room filled with destruction.</p>
<p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(Written on 19-1-21) The first chapter of my very first fic, and what an exciting and fruitful journey this was! The cover art is made by the very talented @XxSilver_LeaxX! Go check her out, everybody!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2: Frozen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver comes back from the past, is massively disappointed at what he finds, and oscillates between positivity and The Negative Sad Thoughts.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>In another place</em>
</p>
<p>On a cliffside overlooking the ruins of fallen skyscrapers and crumbling roads, a swirling blue portal opened. The backpacked figure that came out, gracefully flying a few feet above the stone below him, glanced around enthusiastically for a few seconds until his face dropped and disappointment settled in his golden eyes. Silver the Hedgehog, having just returned from another time-travel adventure in the past, had hoped that this time he had succeeded in his mission of saving his era… but the frozen world filled with destruction that stretched out in front of him clearly told another tale. After checking the stone for any oddities and deeming it safe, he landed on his feet, sighing sadly to himself.</p>
<p>“I really thought we’d done it this time, guys…” Silver mumbled, kicking a rock with his boot and watching it tumble over the edge of the rock he was standing upon. He felt his heart growing more heavy with grief by the second. <em>Why is it never enough? How long until I finally get it <strong>right</strong>? </em>He crossly wiped away any wetness that he felt building up at the corners of his eyes. For a moment he allowed his painful thoughts to rush around in his head, before vigorously suppressing them.</p>
<p>“This isn’t the first time this has happened. I will find the cause once more and go back in time to bring a stop to this. Next time it <em>will</em> be better,” Silver spoke firmly as to encourage himself, gripping the handles of the heavy backpack he was carrying and hoisting it up a little. He noticed that behind him, the portal had already closed. It sent a stab of loneliness through him, which he tried to subdue immediately. He glanced around once more instead, taking in the view a bit better. He did not like what he saw one bit.</p>
<p>Silver was no stranger to ruined futures, growing up in the burning ruins of a world destroyed by the Ifrit, then finding a planet ruled with an iron fist by the evil Dr. Eggman where pollution and fear battled for dominance in the heavy air. In his last visit to his time, the world had been turned entirely to metal; he had been lucky to not touch the ground or any of the plant life, or else he would have been turned into a Zombot, shambling around with metal coating his fur and his mind while being unable to prevent the tragedy from ever happening. He shuddered from just thinking about the possibility.</p>
<p>While this world also had the ruined structures of buildings and roads that often littered the landscape in the now-undone futures he had seen, and also featured the same cloudy atmosphere with no sunlight, snow and ice fluttered through the air instead of sparks and ashes. It made Silver wish he hadn’t declined Amy’s increasingly pushy attempts to put a coat on him before he left the past. Despite how miserable he felt still, a small smile managed to creep on his lips from the silly memory.</p>
<p>“Alright Silv, no more crying. You can do this!” Trying to cheer himself up more, the shivering hedgehog energetically pumped his fist before his chest and grinned, before glancing around shyly. He worried that anyone would see him act so childish, but then he realised that the place he was in seemed to be entirely void of any creatures other than a few small, withering plants. He couldn’t help but feel that that was among the worst signs he could have come across.</p>
<p>With no-one around as far as he could see Silver figured he might as well talk to himself, having learned long ago that it helped keep him sane. “Maybe if I go into the city, there’s a library or something that contains records of what happened here… Or maybe I can find some survivors who can tell me what took place here!” His enthusiasm at the idea increased quickly. Now that he had a plan, Silver felt himself grow hopeful once more. <em>This isn’t the first time I have dealt with situations like these, everything will be fine. At worst, I can just grab a Chaos Emerald, go back to Sonic’s era, and find out more about the situation there with the help from my friends</em>. At the thought of them, Silver found himself grow warmer still, despite the freezing cold he had found himself in.</p>
<p>Silver checked his backpack to ensure it was strapped tightly to him. When telling his friends that he was going back to his own era, Sonic, Tails, Amy had quickly started a manhunt in the Restoration HQ for any supplies they figured he could use. By the size and weight of the thing Silver could have sworn that they had managed to put in a dozen times more items than the backpack was designed for, but its creator Tails had assured him that it would not tear. In the back of his mind Silver wondered if the genius fox had somehow managed to make it bigger on the inside than it appeared to be on the outside, before pushing the thought back and focusing once more on the mission at hand.</p>
<p>Effortlessly picking himself up once more with his telekinetic powers, Silver rose from the cliff and flew off towards the ruins in front of the cliff. Waving through the air around disintegrating structures of buildings and skyscrapers and looking down at the ruins far below him, he eventually found a spot that had been spared the more intense destruction, which he deemed safe enough to land on and walk around for a bit. But still, there was no sign of any people.</p>
<p>As he was walking around in the streets, dodging wobbly roads and precariously-stacked piles of rocks, Silver could feel the doubts return to his mind once more, no matter how much he tried to suppress them. <em>Why do I keep doing this…</em> he wondered, his ears lowering on his head. His friends had told him one night that he was welcome to stay with them forever, solving the problems the past suffered from without needing to go back to the future each time, but he had declined instantly. <em>I can’t stay in the past, I don’t belong there. If I don’t go back to my era, we might not be able to find out what takes place at all until it is too late, and then we can’t save anyone. And when everything finally turns out alright… </em>Silver had never told his friends, but he knew that once the future was saved he had to live there, without ever travelling back to the past again as to not accidentally change the timeline more. The thought made his lips tremble, and he desperately tried to switch back to the task at hand. </p>
<p>Mulling over the possibilities of what could have caused this particular disaster and fretting about finding a person who had the knowledge of what had taken place here, the negative thoughts in his head making everything so much harder to focus on, Silver almost missed a small rustling sound he heard behind him. His ear turned towards the area where it came from, but figuring it probably just came from some stones he disturbed by walking around, he decided to pay it no heed. A louder crash however fully grabbed his attention, and he twisted around instantly, grabbing some rubble with his telekinesis as he turned to have a weapon ready.</p>
<p>Silver eyed the patch of stones and debris that the noise came from warily, experience having taught him that it was very well possible that some wayward monster or robot was lying in an ambush there. Raising his voice, he yelled out: “Who’s there?!” A few seconds passed, wherein Silver found himself growing simultaneously more anxious and angry. He raised the rubble he was holding threateningly and tried yelling once more: “If you try to fight me, I’ll win for sure!” Silence prevailed.</p>
<p>Cautiously, Silver moved closer to the debris, making sure to keep his rubble at the ready in case he needed to protect himself with it. It appeared that some pieces of wreckage had slid out of the pile, resulting in the loud crash. However, Silver knew for sure that it had not been caused by him walking past it. He crept closer still and crouched down, defences high, trying to glance into the pile to see if he could find the culprit. From underneath the debris, two blue irises stared back at him.</p>
<p>“Gah!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 2! Just before posting this I decided to quickly add the section wherein Silver wonders about his place in the world, in order to make the title of the entire fic (Belong) make a bit more sense. This will be brought back in later chapters as well! Also, I decided to give him his massive Magic Backpack made by Tails because I couldn't imagine for a single second that his friends would let him go back to a future of uncertain circumstance without some form of supplies. </p>
<p>I also like to headcanon that Silver calls himself Silv on occasion as well, but there's no basis to that lol</p>
<p>As always, if you want to leave a review, you're more than welcome!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3: The Meeting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver finds a near-identical stranger under some debris, decides to help him, and also sets up camp while being immensely concerned about his lookalike.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Silver shot back from the surprise, nearly toppling over while almost launching the rubble into the pile before managing to stop himself. A survivor! Realising that that was exactly what he desired, Silver took a deep breath to recover, then gently dropped the rubble he was holding as to not appear threatening, though making sure it was still within reach in case the person turned out to be hostile. “Sorry about that,” Silver chuckled sheepishly, “I thought you were a monster lying in wait to attack me.” He crouched down once more in order to see the figure better. “May I ask who you are?”</p>
<p>From what Silver could see, instead of calming the person down his words seemed to have the opposite effect. The figure pushed themselves back into the alcove as much as possible, and Silver thought he could see clear terror in the other’s gaze, though the shadows the figure was shrouded in made it hard to tell. He decided to try once more. “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you. I would just like to talk a little,” he murmured softly.</p>
<p>With the figure still refusing to come out from underneath the debris, Silver weighted his options. He could either try to talk the other out of there, or he could lift the entire pile and expose them that way. Feeling himself growing impatient, he decided to go with the latter option, though he decided to warn the other person first. He had learned long ago that most people didn’t really appreciate it when objects randomly started floating around them.</p>
<p>“Listen, I’m going to lift up these rocks, then we can talk face-to-face. I hope that’s no problem.” Silver’s clumsy choice of words made him grimace, of course it would be a problem. The person would have come out of there long ago if it hadn’t been. Sighing softly, he focused his mind on the rubble, and lifted it up easily. However, the sight of the person underneath it made him nearly drop the rubble on top of them again in surprise.</p>
<p>The best way Silver could describe the figure was as a young male hedgehog… that looked nearly identical to him. Silver often got teased by his friends about his simple-mindedness and lack of observational skills, but even he could tell that the similarities were uncanny. The other hedgehog had the exact same five quills on his forehead, and Silver thought he could catch sight of the two he had on the back on his own head as well. Though a multitude of injures alongside mud and dirt coating the other’s fur made it hard to discern, Silver could have sworn that they had almost exactly the same light grey fur. However he could also see some differences between them, such as the blue eyes he noticed earlier, and most notably the wild and bright orange chest fur in place of his much more tame white fluff.</p>
<p>The lookalike cried out in fear and tried to scramble away the moment Silver lifted the rubble, but collapsed only inches from his original spot, another wail getting ripped from his lungs. From his mannerisms and the cuts and scrapes littering his body Silver could tell that the figure was injured and in a lot of pain. He felt his heart cry out in empathy for the other, and his mind raced to find a way to help him.</p>
<p>Placing the debris a safe distance away, Silver quickly removed his backpack and searched for the medical supplies that were in there, wanting to offer them to the whimpering person lying in front of him. At the time he had objected to his friends giving him so many of the resources of the Restoration, claiming that they needed it more than he did, but now he was grateful for their vigilance. Haphazardly pushing aside books, food articles, and the Miles Electric Tails had designed for him, Silver found the first aid kit he was searching for. Yanking it out of the bag, he turned towards the other once more, crouching down a bit away from him to not appear threatening.</p>
<p>“You’re injured. Please, let me help you.” All Silver got in response was a terrified glare. Deeming the other too hurt and exhausted to lash out at him even if he wanted to, Silver got a bit closer, talking gently to calm him down. The other flinched and squeaked as Silver touched his shoulder, but relaxed the slightest bit when Silver kept softly murmuring and stroking his fur. He didn’t react negatively other than a scared squeal and some whimpers when Silver pulled out creams and bandages and announced he would use them to heal him, which he considered a greenlight to continue.</p>
<p>With the survivor being patched up quickly enough with no further issues, Silver grabbed his backpack once more, then hoisted him up and let him lean on his shoulder as he searched for a place where he could set up a safe camp. Eventually he found a sheltered nook between some collapsed buildings. With some quick use of his psychokinesis more rocks and plates were placed against the niche to make it wind- and snowproof, as well as offering some more protection against potential attacks. Silver still had a difficult time believing that the world was entirely void of hostile creatures, especially looking at the injuries his find had sustained.  </p>
<p>The hedgehog-like creature that was with him had quieted down his whimpering, now only trembling and staring as Silver swiftly created a small sleeping area with the sleeping bag and pillow he found in his backpack. Figuring the other would have to be freezing in the cold temperatures, he also searched through the backpack for clothing, finding the coat Amy had tried to give him and he had declined numerous times. Her foresight made him immensely relieved, and he cheerfully offered the lookalike the cloth. The other stared at it in a mixture of fear and wonder, and Silver awkwardly kept holding it out towards him for a few seconds more before realising that he would probably not get a reaction. Taking matters in his own hands, he wrapped it around the other’s shoulders and torso, before gently pushing him down to sit on the sleeping bag.</p>
<p>“I’m going to start a fire, then we can be warm and I can prepare some food, alright?” The other still didn’t react. It made Silver sigh disheartedly. Bundling up layers of snow outside with his powers to be able to put the fire out instantly if it got out of hand, he grabbed the fire-starting kit (an invention of Tails as well; the best fire with no fuel or anything needed, the fox had told him proudly), and prepared to turn it on. As he did that he let his thoughts wander. <em>Who is this person? Why does he look so much like me? And how come he doesn’t talk? What caused him to be injured like that? </em></p>
<p>Deciding that for now he probably wouldn’t find any answers, Silver returned his attention to the matter at hand. With the fire quickly turning the alcove more comfortably warm, he had enough time to study the survivor from the corner of his eye. The creature, for his part, was looking at the fire as if he had never seen anything like it. Silver figured that with all the snow and ice coating the world outside their small safe haven he probably never had. It reminded him of himself, the first time he had travelled back to the past and witnessed all the beauty and wonder it had to offer, though he was much less terrified at that time that his lookalike was now. He felt a pang go through his heart at the memory.</p>
<p>With the silence quickly becoming unbearable, Silver decided he might as well chat a little more with the survivor. He hoped that if he talked enough, the other would eventually respond, or at least be a little less terrified of him. “For food I have cans of, uh… beans? And some premade packaged meals. And I also have soup! It might taste kind of bland, though, since it needs to be prepared in such a way that it doesn’t spoil… but which would you prefer?”</p>
<p>Silver looked at the creature hopefully when he spoke his question, but he might as well have been talking to a very scared wall that was afraid of making a single wrong movement. The other still didn’t respond, or even show any sign that he understood what was being said to him. Silver sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long night….</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 3! Writing out chapter summaries is a lot tougher than I thought it would be... </p>
<p>If you want to leave a review, feel free to!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4: Reflections</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He wonders about the other, and he talks, and he is given a name.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The other had his back turned towards him, while working with the yellow sparks that gave off warmth. He didn’t understand… Why did the other help him? What was the other going to do with him? He seemed kind enough… but he had learned long ago that his life existed mostly of fear and pain.</p><p>“Here, I made you some food.” The other turned towards him, with an expression that seemed to elicit kindness and goodwill. He held out a container of… something. It did smell nice… And the gesture seemed similar to how the other had held out the cloth that was now snugly wrapped around him, just before pushing him down on the longer soft cloth. Deeming it safe, he grabbed the container from the other, before stopping. Inside the container was a liquid. He knew how to eat food, in the facility he had also eaten, but this was different from anything he had had before. Glancing over at the other, he saw he had a container as well. Judging by the smell it contained the same liquid as his. The other lifted the container to his mouth and drank from it. He copied the movement.</p><p>When the liquid entered his mouth he sputtered and nearly spat it out again. It was warm, and did not taste like anything he knew! But if the other could consume it, then he could too, couldn’t he?</p><p>“Are you alright? It’s called soup. My friend Amy made it for me, she’s the best cook I know! Said she made it as healthy as possible so I could get enough nutrients. She’s a really big worrywart sometimes!” The other spoke a lot. While he understood the words that the other said, they carried no meaning to him. What was soup? What was a friend Amy? Not knowing what was happening shrouded his heart and mind with fear. He took another sip from the container to distract himself. He did enjoy the way it tasted…</p><p>Between taking sips of his own container the other kept talking. Realising that it was probably not aimed at him particularly, he tuned him out and started studying the other’s body. He somewhat knew what he looked like, he had seen his reflection in a glass wall in the facility once, a long time ago. He suppressed the memories that started to coil in his head and turned his attention to the other again. They had the same kind of quills, he saw. Five on their brows, and two longer ones protruding from the back of their heads. And the other also had fur around his neck, though his was orange while the other’s was white, and a bit shorter. Most notably, the other had the teal marks on his hands that he usually had too, though his were entirely greyed out at the moment. He figured it was because of what happened when he… no, he wasn’t going to think about that again. He intensified his focus on the other, and took in some differences. The other’s hands were white, instead of the grey of his fur… how odd. He also had two spiky-looking tufts coming out of his back, which he himself lacked. Didn’t that hurt? He took a peak at the items covering their feet, and noticed that the other’s looked a lot better than his. While his footwear consisted of simple black fabric, the other’s shoes were taller and looked a lot more sturdy, not to mention more colourful.</p><p>Having gotten lost in his musings, he nearly didn’t notice the other looking at him intensely. A “hey!” made him jump up and nearly spill his liquid all over himself. The other quickly grabbed his container with the teal-coloured power he also possessed, and gently put it down next to him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You were looking kind of lost in thought there, but I wanted to ask you something.” The other looked… apologetic? But why? He simply couldn’t wrap his head around it…</p><p>“This might be an odd question to ask now, but what is your name? Then I know how to refer to you.” Name? What did the other mean? Wasn’t his name PK-HMH? Why did the other not know this already?</p><p>Silence prevailed, he had no idea how to react. After a few seconds the other made a sad huffing noise. “That’s alright, you don’t need to answer. I can see you’re still kind of spooked. But I mean no harm, really!” The other was quiet for a few seconds more. “Actually… can you even understand me? Do you know what I’m trying to say?”</p><p>“… … …” What was he doing?! He needed to react to the other! He opened his mouth, noticing how hopeful the other looked. He closed his mouth again, then opened it once more, before closing it anew and deciding to settle for a nod. Despite his lack of a vocal answer, the other looked thrilled, jumping up enthusiastically with a bright grin etched on his face. “That’s great! Then you can understand me when I tell you that everything’s safe and I won’t hurt you, right? I’ll take care of you, I promise!” Take care? Why did the other want to look after him? No-one had ever taken care of him before…</p><p>In his surprise he nearly didn’t notice the other sit down on the long cloth he was sitting on as well. He flinched, worrying that the other would do something to hurt him, but he very gently took his hand and… gave it a shake? “My name is Silver, Silver the Hedgehog. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Not knowing what to do, he just kept holding on to the other’s hand. The seconds ticked by wherein neither moved, before the other grinned sheepishly. “You’ll get it in no time, I’m sure. But can you let go of my hand now?”</p><p>-----</p><p>The other… <em>Silver</em> had gotten up some time ago and was now doing things with a yellow contraption of sorts, touching the blue rectangle that was in the middle while muttering to himself and occasionally scratching his head. He wondered if Silver was taking notes about something. Back in the facility they had also taken notes on blue rectangles, often after they had hurt him in some way, but this seemed… different. Silver had no interest in him in particular right now, it looked like.</p><p>Fiddling idly with his ivory fingers, he practiced in his head what he wanted to say to Silver. <em>My name is PK-HMH</em>. He had heard it thousands of times before, it couldn’t possibly be so hard to say it himself. Scraping together all his courage, he jumped up, the sudden move astonishing himself. The noise it caused made Silver turn towards him, looking startled as well. “Hey, what’s up?”</p><p>“M…. m…. my-“ Fear gripped him and he stopped before even stuttering out the first word fully, but then he took in Silver’s delighted face. “It’s alright, go on!” He swallowed.</p><p>“M-my n-n-name is…. P-PK… um… PK-H… HM… uh… PK-HMH.” That didn’t go exactly the way he had in mind, but he managed to get it out anyway. Silver looked at him very surprised. “PK-HMH? That’s a very unique name, I have never heard anything like it! Is it an abbreviation? What does it stand for?”</p><p>“I-I don’t k-know… they c-called me… called me that in…. in… t-the f-facility.” The surge of pain that shot through his mind and body when he spoke the word out loud made bitter gall rise from him stomach and he swayed on his feet. Silver gasped in surprise at his reaction and was next to him in an instant, pushing him down gently onto the longer cloth and sitting down next to him. “Shh, shh, it’s okay, you’re safe. You’re safe and I’ll protect you.” The hedgehog gently stroked his head, which felt nice. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. That was insensitive of me.”</p><p>“’s Okay.” He leaned into Silver’s touch a bit more, trying to calm his breathing.</p><p>After a while, when he had calmed down a little, he looked up at Silver, who seemed to be lost in thought. When he shifted a little the hedgehog turned his attention back towards him, looking at him kindly. “I was thinking… would you perhaps like it if I chose a new name for you?” A new name? For him? He couldn’t deny that it sounded appealing… he nodded.</p><p>“Awesome! Okay, it needs to be something that sounds nice, and cool, and is easy for people to remember, oh! And it needs to fit you too, of course, and you need to like it yourself as well. Let me think…” So many requirements, it made his head hurt. Silver seemed to know what he was doing though, so he decided to let him ponder this while he waited.</p><p>“We could name you after a colour like me, but Grey or Orange aren’t really as nice as Silver, so I propose we veto those. Maybe something in relation to your eyes, like Sapphire or Pearl? No… those don’t fit you. Or maybe we need to look at this from a completely different angle, like a famous person or city! Your chest fur reminds me a little of the sun, it’s so bright, but Sunny or Sol or Flare don’t fit you either, and I already have a friend named Blaze… Although, the sun… Oh, I’ve got it!”</p><p>Silver shot up, beaming eye to eye. “Venice! How do you like Venice?!” Venice… he had never heard the word before, but it did have a nice ring to it. He tipped his head in confusion towards Silver. What did Venice mean?</p><p>“There’s this city I know called Soleanna, they worship the Sun God Solaris there. But before Soleanna was named that way it was called Venice! They changed the name ages ago to be more in line with their god, but Venice is very fitting for you, don’t you think?” Silver looked at him with enthusiasm shining clearly in his eyes. Venice…</p><p>For the first time since he could remember, Venice thought he could feel the ghost of a smile on his face. “V-Venice… I… I like it.” He hesitantly stood up and reached out to grasp Silver’s hand like he had done when introducing himself, then awkwardly shook it. “S-Silver… It’s nice to meet you, t-too.”</p><p>“Then it’s settled!” Silver’s broad grin hadn’t left his face at all, and he firmly shook Venice’s hand back. “I propose we go to sleep now, then tomorrow I can check your injuries and then we can go look for information about just what the heck happened here.” He turned around to ready the long cloth that they had been sitting on. Venice awkwardly cleared his throat.</p><p>“I have… h-have a question.”</p><p>“Hm?” He had Silver’s attention once more.</p><p>“…What’s a sun?”</p><p>Silver stared at him, appearing surprised. Then, he beamed widely, and grabbed his yellow rectangle with the teal-coloured power. Gently pushing them both down again on the long soft cloth, he started talking. About the sun, and the stars, and the world, mythical gemstones, and heroes, and adventures… Settling himself on the cloth in a way that he had never been comfortable before, Venice hung on to every word that came past his lips, though after more time had passed than he had been aware of he felt his eyes droop. Still listening to Silver’s voice, darkness eventually overtook his vision, and he fell into a peaceful slumber.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 4! This one's from Venice's point of view! I tried to explain how Silver came up with the name Venice by linking it to Soleanna, which is based on the actual city of Venice. As for Venice's past in the facility... more on that later :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5: In the City</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver contemplates Venice and all his oddities and also makes plans to search for good reading material.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In an immense token of creativity, Silver had given the ruined city he found himself and Venice in the name Frozen City. He had quickly come to the conclusion that while he despised the intense cold and constant barrage of snow, he did like the difference it had from the burning ruins he had grown up in. With Tails’ fire gadget he could easily stave off the cold, and all the snow meant no lack of water. One of the first things he had done after the night where he had named Venice was give his new friend a bath with melted snow, which the other hedgehog had accepted with no fuss other than a clear look on betrayal on his face. It made Silver chuckle as he remembered how he had tried to clean and dry the other as quickly as possible. With all the dirt and blood removed, the other hedgehog’s pelt became a more ivory shade compared to his own darker grey fleece. Silver decided Venice’s colour looked good with his orange chest fur.</p><p>As for Venice himself, he still was tight-lipped about himself or where he came from, with shyness and insecurities to match. Silver wondered just how much knowledge on this world his friend had, and in the back of his mind he questioned if he was even a natural part of it. He had attempted to bring up the other’s past once or twice, but whenever he did Venice would either start panicking or mutter something about the facility he had mentioned before, when he told Silver his name was PK-HMH, before shrinking in on himself and refusing to say anything else for hours on end. The silver hedgehog had quickly decided that it was best to let the topic rest for now.</p><p>While the lack of sun made it difficult for Silver to know how much time had passed, the Miles Electric Tails had modified and given him had a clock, which he lawfully abided by. The whole piece of technology was filled to the brim with information, tips, and pictures he and his friends had collected for him, both during the war to keep themselves sane when the world they knew kept crumbling around them and afterwards, when the relief made everyone excited about how things would go back to normal soon. While Silver was always eager to learn something new, he now had another reason to study all the provided knowledge: he wanted to teach Venice as much about the past world as possible. While not having discussed that particular titbit with his friend yet, he already knew that he didn’t have the heart to leave the other behind when he going to travel back to the past in order to undo this future.</p><p>Venice for his part spent his days following him around like a lost puppy, clutching Amy’s coat like his life depended on it and panicking the instant Silver left his view. If the psychic had been a fish out of water when he first travelled back in time, Venice right now was more like a beached whale: utterly stranded in an environment that it was simply not made for, immensely difficult to aid, and entirely dependent on those showing it kindness to help it recover. Well, Silver knew a thing or two about being alone in the world with no-one to guide you or be nice to you; he had sworn almost instantly, even before naming Venice, that he would take the other under his wing as best as he could. And as such, he stuck with his friend, making sure he ate enough, telling him story after story of his adventures and all the things he had seen in his own life. All the while he encouraged and comforted him as he saw fit, which was often. Although, Venice had many oddities, other than his past and general behaviour, that made Silver worry about him.</p><p>What his clock told him was two days after meeting Venice, Silver had noticed the most peculiar thing on the other. He had woken up earlier than his friend, and decided to already get up and start working on breakfast, but as he glanced over the still-sleeping survivor he could have sworn he saw the same teal marks he had on his own hands on the glove-less ones of Venice as well. Barely suppressing a yell of surprise – people with psychic powers were rare, even in the past! – Silver had wasted no time questioning his lookalike about it over breakfast. Unfortunately, he had realised that he had come off much too strongly when Venice started backing away, panic clear in his gaze. Silver couldn’t help but wonder what had happened at that facility Venice rarely mentioned, though he could easily come up with some ideas that made him feel sick to his stomach. He had quickly changed the topic, and the rest of the day went by with no further incidents, though the hedgehog had sworn to himself to keep a close eye on the developments of the other’s supposed psychic powers.</p><p>One time he had left a sleeping Venice behind in their shelter, intending to look for clues but not wanting to wake the other up. He had not been gone for long, but when he had gotten back he had been subjected to the scare of a life-time: Venice had disappeared. Silver had frantically flown around Frozen City, calling out  his friend’s name, before finding Venice tucked away in a ball on his side under some rubble. When Silver had landed Venice had flung himself at him, clinging at his torso as if he were drowning and Silver was his one saving lifeline. From the wails and sobs Venice produced Silver had understood that the former had woken up only to find him missing, and desperate to find him had gone out of their shelter alone, only later realising that he had become utterly lost. Rocking Venice gently, Silver had promised to not unexpectedly leave again, before bringing the sniffling and trembling survivor back to their den and staying with him till he had fallen asleep once more.</p><p>Silver also couldn’t help but notice the physical differences between him and Venice. While they had the same quills and similar-coloured fur, the other lacked the spines he had on his back, and he had also noticed that Venice’s tail was a lot longer and thicker than his own tiny one. Of course there was also the bright orange fur around his neck, instead of Silver’s white fur, not to mention his sleeker body compared to Silver's broad shoulders. And while Silver had the black marks only on the outermost sides of his eyes, Venice’s extended entirely along his muzzle. One night when Venice had had a nightmare and he had laid down next to him for comfort, thinking he was asleep, Silver had seen that his ears were a lot more rounded at the top that his spikier ones, and instead of having spikes on his back his body was fully covered in the soft fur that Silver had only on his stomach and appendages, though the other’s head definitely had the same pointy quills as his. Was Venice even a hedgehog? And his eyes… he had never seen anyone with a pupil that was light blue, not black, and who had sclera <em>between</em> the pupil and the iris. It reminded him a little of his own PK marks on his hands, but he figured Venice would probably not have an answer as to why his eyes looked like that, nor would he be able to explain any of his other oddities.</p><p>All in all, Venice was an enigma Silver had no idea how to tackle, and as such he decided to focus more on the task at hand instead of fruitlessly grasping at straws trying to explain the other’s mysteries. While Silver was itching to go back to the past and resolve the disaster he knew would strike there soon, he also knew that he had to gather more information about what would happen exactly to be as useful to his friends in the past as possible. Trudging around Frozen City with Venice in tow still hadn’t yielded any sign of sentient life: so far their only company had been very few plants and the occasional insect tucked away in sheltered corners, which startled Venice beyond belief and which Silver knew would not give him the details he desired. The lack of information plus the worry he felt for Venice made his skin crawl with frustration.</p><p>By now five days had passed since he had entered this future, and with no leads to go on that pointed towards survivors other than Venice, Silver decided to take a different approach.</p><p>“I want to see if there’s a library around this place, or if someone left a diary or something wherein the events of the disaster has been jotted down,” he mentioned to Venice while heating up two packages of food from his backpack above the fire gizmo. A quick glance towards the other showed his confusion at the statement, along with a hint of fright.</p><p>“…What is… a library?” Venice asked softly. Over the days he had gotten the slightest bit bolder, listening intently to Silver’s stories and daring to ask the occasional question about a word or concept Silver told him about. The latter tried to encourage it as best he could, in the hopes of getting Venice out of his shell more.</p><p>Silver beamed brightly at the question. “A library is a place where people gather books with stories and information, and then other people can read those books! In that way, the books are accessible for everyone, and they can learn new stuff,” he explained, watching Venice’s reaction intently. Sometimes he would easily grasp what Silver tried to explain, other times he had to repeat his answer a multitude of times before it even started clicking in his head. Venice did seem to understand what he was getting at this time, going by how he nodded his head slowly. But then he started fiddling with his ungloved fingers, which Silver knew meant that he wanted to ask something else. He waited patiently for Venice to state what was on his mind, although when the question came it was not what he expected.</p><p>“W-what… exactly… h-happened here? Why do you… d-do you keep l-looking for other p-people…?” Ah, Silver had not really been able to explain his mission to Venice, with what little he had to go on as to why the future was ruined this time. He pondered how to answer best. “Well, I am a time traveller. When the world is ruined I go back in time and try to prevent the event that caused it from happening, in that way preventing the destruction of the world. But each time I do that…” he felt the misery from five days ago claw at his heart once more. He swallowed and shook his head inconspicuously to push it down, before realising he had trailed off. “…um, something else goes wrong at a later point in time and the world gets ruined once more, just differently. Then I go back to the future and see what happened that time, and afterwards I travel back to the past once more to bring a stop to it. In that way, I want to save my future.” He was quiet for a few seconds more, then muttered softly: “I haven’t really had much luck with actually truly fixing anything for the better so far though…”</p><p>Staring rigidly into the fire, body trembling the slightest bit when thinking about his failures up to now, Silver almost missed Venice shifting over towards him, jolting slightly when the other put a shaking hand on his shoulder. He quickly realised that he had comforted Venice in this way when they first met, and that the other was copying the soothing behaviour to try to help him. The gentle action made him smile, despite his sombre mood.</p><p>“That’s very kind of you to do,” Venice whispered, giving Silver’s shoulder a squeeze. Silver placed his own hand on top of Venice’s and squeezed back. Venice didn’t look like he understood even half of what Silver tried to explain, but he appreciated the other’s concern nonetheless. Actually, now that he looked closer, Venice seemed to have been overcome by grief, though he didn’t comment on what had caused it. Silver hoped it was simply his own sour mood rubbing off on Venice, and sighed sadly. “Someone has to do it, and I guess it just gotta be me. But I vowed that I won’t stop until the world is a safe place for everyone, no matter how difficult it will be to reach that.”</p><p>At Silver’s more hopeful exclamation, Venice glanced down at his shoes, now looking quite bashful. “I-I-I b-believe y-you can d-do it,” he managed to stutter out, not daring to look him in the eye. It warmed Silver’s heart, and he squeezed Venice’s hand once more. “Thank you, Venice. You don’t know how much I appreciate hearing that.”</p><p>Letting go of his lookalike completely, Silver grabbed the breakfast packages, ripping them both open before handing one to Venice with a kind smile. “In order to save the world I’m going to be needing some help, though. What do you say you come with me to find the library and then help with hunting for clues?” It was a dumb question, he knew Venice would have followed him even if Silver had forbidden it, but he wanted the other to feel desired. And besides, he could really use the company. Venice nodded timidly and Silver beamed more.</p><p>“Let’s finish eating, and then we’ll go.” Breakfast commenced with some small talk, mostly from Silver though Venice also asked the occasional question. After finishing the two got up, Silver grabbed his backpack, and they left their shelter to go search for leads. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>One more for today! At this point I need to make a list of plot points that I would like to return, I don't like to leave any loose ends hanging. I tried to describe the physical differences between Silver and Venice as best as I could, but some of it moves into headcanon territory. For example, the idea of Silver having broad shoulders while Venice is build more slimly is based on hedgehogs just being more rotund than minks! Same goes for their ear shape. As for the question if Venice is a mink or a hedgehog... that will be answered later! If have a reference on a different tumblr than my main, but at this point it's probably outdated and kinda shoddy-looking. If I ever develop more artistic talent I'll probably redo it!</p><p>And also, you are not gonna tell me Silver never feels doubt or despair about ending up in Yet Another destroyed future... though he certainly would be the type to keep that to himself! I want to explore this aspect of him more as well =3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6: The Library</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Venice also has the Negative Sad Thoughts, his near-death shows Silver where to go, and he accidentally reveals a secret.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They had been walking through Frozen City for a while now, Silver occasionally flying up a little and peeking through windows or torn-apart walls, though making sure to never leave Venice’s gaze, before shaking his head or sighing and flying down again. Venice wished he could make himself more useful, but he had barely been able to wrap his head around Silver’s explanation as to why he was doing this, and as such he had no idea what to look for. All he knew was that Silver’s increasingly sombre mood made him upset as well, though in his case his thoughts were worsened by his anxieties.</p><p>While Venice knew he would never tell Silver, in order to not give the darker grey hedgehog any ideas, he feared for the day that Silver would leave him behind. He had quickly deemed it inevitable; there was no way he wasn’t too needy, too broken, or too dangerous for anyone to be willing to spend so much time with him. He just had to wait this out, make sure to not get in the way, and hope that Silver wouldn’t harm him when he left.</p><p>But still… the hedgehog had only ever shown him goodwill, telling him stories and answering all his questions, never getting annoyed or angry no matter how often he needed to repeat it. And he shared his food with him, and the warm cloth that he called a coat, and let him sleep in his den, and he kept asking if he wanted to join him on his searches throughout the city… Still, Venice squashed down any spark of hope that dared make him believe that Silver would let him stay. No, he would be left behind soon for sure, especially with how driven Silver was to find other people and those clues he kept mentioning. Convincing himself that Silver couldn’t be blamed, he tried to supress the grief that welled up his in heart at the thought.</p><p>Venice fiddled anxiously with the white cloths around his hands that Silver had given him just before they had left. “It’s going to be very cold outside,” he’d said, “and if we’re going to be breaking into buildings you’ll need to protect your hands anyway.” He’d pulled the items from the “backpack”, as he’d called it, and had described them as “gloves”, before gently putting them both around Venice’s hands. Although, he couldn’t help but notice the inconspicuous glance Silver had given his palms as he was doing so. Venice feared that he had somehow noticed the teal-coloured marks that had begun to softly simmer once more, no matter how much he tried to suppress it, though Silver had kept quiet about as he finished slipping on the gloves. Venice dared hope that it was all in his head and Silver hadn’t actually noticed anything unusual about his hands, and thus his powers. Venice snuggled a little bit deeper in the coat, feeling the slightest bit protected by how warm it was.</p><p>Despite that feeling of safety, every time his mind inevitably slipped to the teal-coloured marks he possessed it sent a jolt of fear through his body. No matter how much he tried to forget about what had happened in the facility, the memories kept breaking through the mental barriers he had built up, ready to drag him under and drown him in the pain they caused still. Being with Silver certainly helped, the hedgehog’s chatty behaviour and comfort he offered pushed away all the thoughts that made him tremble in fright, but he deemed Silver too busy with throwing away some rocks with his power and whatever else he was doing right now to ask him for any help… not that he would ever tell Silver what he had done, or where he came from, or what he could do.</p><p>Venice had dared hope that his powers had disappeared completely, and the grey colour of the marks instead of their normal teal had only intensified that belief, along with the emptiness inside his mind where he used to feel them. But now they were returning, simmering under the surface of his skin and at the tips of his fingers, clearly wishing to be let out once more and wreak havoc like they used to. He couldn't, though, he had sworn to himself even before he had met Silver to never make use of his wretched curse again. He had learned long ago that the power was too dangerous, too hard to control, and too desirable for those who wanted it for their own evil ways to leave him alone. Silver absolutely couldn't know about it either, the other hedgehog would only try to encourage him to train and use them, and Venice knew he would be unable to say no to his enthousiasm. Silver knew how to control the power, Venice never had and never would. If the other psychic were to find out about his deficiencies he would definitely be too repulsed to stay with him any longer, and Venice was trying to postpone their inevitable departure as much as he could, knowing how heartbroken he would be when left behind by the only person he felt he could trust. Speaking of Silver, he peeked at the other once more, witnessing him kick at one of the structures and having to make a quick dodge in the air while yelling something when it toppled over and nearly crashed down on him, though Venice was too far away to make out what he said. </p><p>The hedgehog had described the road they were walking on as a highway, and had said it was used to quickly bring people from one place to another. Venice shifted his attention from his marks and his powers to pondering how that worked and if it was called a highway because it rose high into the sky, supported by columns underneath it. He made a mental note to ask Silver about it later, once the hedgehog had calmed down his searching craze.</p><p>He had been so lost in thought that he had barely noticed that the road had grown more unstable as they progressed. Before Venice could take another step, the highway suddenly collapsed from underneath him, and he dropped right through, tumbling in the air alongside the pieces of debris. A cry of surprise and fear passed his lips as Silver swooped in not even a second later, grabbing him with both the teal-coloured power and his own hands, before taking him in his arms and flying down to land on a more stable-looking construction.</p><p>Wailing and trembling from the shock, Venice wrapped his arms around Silver’s neck in a death grip and buried his head in his rescuer’s shoulder, desperately trying to push down the powers that were rushing around his body in alarm. He could feel Silver humming gentle words and rocking him like he was a child, but despite the calming effects it had on him it still took minutes for him to calm down sufficiently enough to even consider not nearly strangling Silver.</p><p>Eventually Venice felt brave enough to peek out of the shoulder he had buried his entire face in, looking at Silver’s concerned yellow eyes. “It’s alright, it’s alright, I got you,” the hedgehog murmured kindly. Venice took a deep breath once more, then, fully realising what they were doing, fidgeted a little to indicate that he wanted to be put down, which Silver obliged. Though he could still feel his legs tremble, Venice stood rigidly opposite to his friend, staring at the ground. He had already worried him enough, he didn’t want to be even more of a bother. And he had nearly lost control of the power... What if Silver had noticed? But when he glanced up at Silver to see if he was mad at him or disgusted, he saw the other’s eyes shine enthusiastically instead.</p><p>“Do you see that?” Silver spoke excitedly as he waved towards some of the buildings they had landed near. Venice realised that Silver had flown them to a part of the city located underneath the highway he had fallen through. These buildings looked a lot different from the taller skyscrapers, as Silver had called them. They were shaped differently and more colourful, though most of it was faded away, and they had different texts he couldn’t read slapped on their fronts. Some had knocked-over tables and seats laying in front of them, others had boards with words or other pieces of broken-down furniture. He glanced at Silver in confusion.</p><p>“This is a shopping district! That means we’ve reached the inner centre of the city,” Silver explained as he passionately moved his hands around, before running deeper into the area. “If we are to find a good library it <em>has</em> to be here,” Venice heard him yell from a distance away, but then he zipped back quickly when he saw the other did not follow him. “Hey, are you alright?” The concern in his tone was clearly noticeable. It made Venice cower, thinking about how upset he must have looked to the hedgehog for him to strike such a worried tone.</p><p>“I-I’m… sorry.” He didn’t dare look Silver in his eyes. He kept causing trouble… Not just now, but ever since he met Silver, he had been such an inconvenience, and before that…</p><p>“Sorry? What for? You didn’t do anything wrong.” He could feel Silver shift a little closer and place his hands on his shoulders, but it just made him flinch even more instead. Instead of answering or bringing his agonizing thoughts to the surface he gestured vaguely towards to collapsed highway that he had fallen through. Silver hummed in understanding. “Ah, I see. You really didn’t do anything wrong, Ven. If anything, it was my fault for not paying better attention to you or the road. Besides, if you hadn’t fallen through I might not even have seen this area. You actually helped me out a lot, thank you so much!”</p><p>At Silver’s kind words Venice finally took a peek at his face, finding the gentle and encouraging smile on it as he had seen so many times before. He had a thousand-and-one questions about how that would even work, and he also wanted to tell Silver to not blame himself, as it was all his own fault, not his friend’s, but all that came out was: “Ven…?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s a nickname! People sometimes shorten other people’s names, when they really like each other. With a nickname you show that you’re really good friends. For example, some of my friends call me Silv,” Silver explained, his eyes growing a bit distant like they always did when he talked about his companions from the past. Venice wondered how Silver had gained all this knowledge, and if he himself would ever remember all of what was told to him. “Some people don’t like getting nicknames, though,” he heard the hedgehog ponder, “so I can just call you Venice fully if you prefer that?”</p><p>Ven… he did like the sound of this as well, just like with Venice. He rushed to assure Silver. “N-no, no i-it’s alright. I-I l-like it.”</p><p>“Alright then… Ven.” Silver squeezed his shoulders gently, before letting go of him entirely and taking a step back. “Now, I’ll stay closer to you, alright? What do you say we set out for our library?”</p><p>“S-sure.” They began to walk once more, this time with Silver right next to him.</p><p>-----</p><p>As it turned out, the library was tucked away snugly between some other buildings, but Silver had apparently picked out the sign with the word that designated it to its purpose, and had enthusiastically directed them to it. The door had been locked once, a long time ago, but rust and the ages had worn down the lock and the psychic had easily broken the entrance down with a simple push. Now he was making his way through brittle and dusty books, gently grappling them with the teal-coloured power as to not let them fall apart in his hands. A couple of centuries and the conditions they had found themselves in, he had explained to Venice wistfully, were often more than enough to make most sources useless and illegible.</p><p>Venice had wanted to sit down on a grungy-looking pillow on some furniture, but Silver had quickly placed a cleaner blanket that had been spared the worst under him, then had told him to rest up. He was now watching Silver’s prowess and how he jotted down things he read in the books on his yellow rectangle with a huge frown on his face. Judging by Silver’s mood, whatever had happened to make the future like this, Venice feared it was beyond bad.</p><p>“I’ve collected tons of info already, just a bit more,” Silver called to him absent-mindedly as he moved into a different hallway, out of his sight. Venice was glad Silver seemed to be making progress with his work, though he also wished they were finished soon so he could go back to their shelter and curl up into the sleeping bag. His eyes were droopy from tiredness.</p><p>In his sleepy state, Venice mulled over the events of today. He had successfully managed to suppress the power, which was good. And despite causing so many problems, Silver had said that he had helped him out a lot, and then had thanked him… he couldn’t help but glow at the praise he had gotten from the hedgehog, despite Silver not being scarce with kind words in general. Maybe Silver would… he did seem to like Venice a <em>lot</em>, and he had given him that "nickname", and he was always so kind to him… So maybe….</p><p>
  <em>Maybe he’ll let me stay.</em>
</p><p>Venice shifted a little on the blanket and pillow, releasing a cloud of dust in the air. Lost in his reverie, he barely noticed how his nose started to itch from the grime that was floating near him. When he noticed the urge to sneeze it was already too late, and it slipped out before he could even try stop himself.</p><p>“ACHOO!”</p><p>Alongside the horrible feeling of the sneeze as it came out of his nose and mouth, he could feel a <em>rush</em> of the teal-coloured power from his mind to his hands, shooting out of his palms and concentrating in his general vicinity, lifting up several strewn-around books and small pieces of furniture. For a second he thought his heart would stop, all happy memories of today and his time with Silver dissipating along with the shred of hope he had felt in his chest. The thoughts that replaced them about being forced to use his power at the facility and the pain they caused him there threatened to engulf him fully, and he nearly gagged.</p><p>
  <em>No, NO!</em>
</p><p>Desperately, with trembling hands and teary eyes, he jumped up from his resting place and tried to will the objects to fall down again, but they defied him, unmoving and stubbornly floating in the air as if they were mocking him. He felt his breath quicken, panic rising in his chest as he tried again and again to make it stop, <em>stop </em>before they could hurt him again, <em>STOP </em>before Silver… Silver…</p><p>“Gesundheit- oh!” Silver’s voice drifted from the hallway he had entered prior. Venice shrieked at the unexpected noise in the distance, his shock resulting in the objects he was holding being flung away, crashing into the wall and falling apart. He whirled around and stared at Silver, completely mortified. For a few seconds neither said a word, Venice staring at Silver with ringing ears, wide eyes, and trembling hands while Silver looked back, appearing much less surprised than Venice had expected him to be. Eventually Silver took a deep breath and Venice saw him open his mouth to say something.</p><p>“I knew you had powers, like me! Was this the first time you’ve ever used them, or… Whoa!” Teal colour surrounded him, and the last thing Venice saw was Silver rushing towards him as his body went limp and his vision and hearing were overtaken by static.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 6! I prewrote till chapter 9, so it's unlikely that I'll ever upload 6 chapters in one day again, so enjoy!</p><p>I feel like I need to quickly explain how I see psychic powers in my characters: I believe it's stored in their body, either in their chest or their head, depending on what power a character has (e.g. pyrokinesis would be stored in the chest, telepathy in the head). I myself see it as a type of abstract "core" that they can pull the energy they need from. The power can travel throughout their entire body (a bit like blood), and they can actively pull it to most parts. E.g. when lifting something Silver pulls it to his hands, though he's so well-trained it happens entirely subconsciously for him. Venice would have to focus much more to make something move. I also like to imagine that they pull the power through their body when bored or idle, lol.</p><p>Also, Venice's mental state is... not the best. His past at the facility has made him both desperate for someone to stay with him and care for him, but he's also convinced that no-one would actually want to be a part of his life, which is why he is so glad Silver is helping him while also being convinced that Silver will ditch him the moment he can travel back to the past. He also has a lot of struggle with controlling his psychokinesis, due to never actually learning how to properly utilise it like Silver has. We'll see soon where this will end up!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7: Power Practice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver undergoes some mulling, makes some things seem better than they are, and tackles some subjects with less nuance than he should have.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>This is… a situation</em>, Silver thought to himself as he watched the trembling shape of his friend inside the sleeping bag where the hedgehog had gently put him. He had intended to wait for Venice to wake up after he fainted in the library and then talk to him about what exactly had happened, but once the survivor had come around he had immediately started panicking and crying, clutching his head so hard Silver feared he would make himself bleed and haphazardly lifting and moving every small object in the vicinity. Realising that they’d probably not get far this way, he had quickly collected his Miles Electric and all the salvageable books and diaries he could find, shoving them in his backpack for safekeeping as he lifted Venice and quickly flew them back to their hideout. The terrified hedgehog had been in shock all the way, his powers pulsing out of his body uncontrollably. He had curled up into a ball on his side immediately when Silver lowered him in the sleeping bag, the entire shelter getting filled with a teal colour, and he had utterly refused to come out or talk to him for the hours that followed. It made Silver’s heart clench with pity and concern.</p><p>As he was stirring the soup he was preparing, keeping half an eye on Venice as well, Silver let his thoughts drift. He had seen the psychokinetic marks that he himself had as well on the other’s hands before, as vague as they were, meaning it hadn’t been a trick of his mind after all. His own experience with his powers had taught him that if he were to overexert them to an insane degree, they would turn grey and he would be unable to access them until they had fully recovered. However, that had only happened to him a handful of times when he was a little kid at best, entirely incapable of controlling his powers the way he could now.</p><p>Silver knew that his birthright had developed in an unique manner due to the way he had grown up. In the destroyed, burning future with everything out to get him he had deemed it a necessity for his blessing to be as strong as possible, and as such he had spent torturous hours and days practicing the best ways to manipulate his environment as he saw fit. His efforts had paid off quickly enough, showing themselves even as he had grown older and was able to pull off more impressive feats than he had ever dared dream about; with a chuckle he thought about how easily he had created his Meteor Smash to battle Sonic when they were sparring for the Chaos Emerald that one time.</p><p>While Silver had struggled with his powers when he was a young child they were now completely under his control except for the direst of circumstances, where they took over only when he was boiling with anger or in a life-threatening situation. But Venice seemed to be around his age, and yet he had been completely held in the power’s grasp instead of the other way around, incapable on getting the slightest semblance of a grip on them… had he simply not been able to practice his powers the way Silver had? Or had he discovered them only very recently? Silver’s mind drifted once more to the facility Venice so sparsely mentioned, and he felt his himself tense thinking about what could possibly have happened there to make his friend so terrified of using his power. He could certainly come up with a few scenarios…</p><p>Realising the soup was about to boil over, Silver quickly removed it from the fire and put it in two bowls, before making his way over to Venice as he had done multiple times in the past few hours, though all those times it had been to no avail. He hoped that the food would lure him out where Silver’s words had failed.</p><p>“Venice?” He gently set down the bowls a bit wayward from the sleeping bag, then gave the thing a very gentle shake. Judging by the shifting of the teal light that was strongest at the very end of the sleeping bag he could have sworn that Venice cowered even more, if that was possible. “I brought you some food. Are you hungry?”</p><p>His question resulted in a small shuffling sound from the bag, which he considered to be a good sign. Soon enough two blue eyes peeked out from inside its depth. Silver tried to smile as encouragingly as he could muster, trying to push away his worry and concerns for the time being. Although Venice refused to leave his safe haven fully, he did extend a hand with a brightly-shining teal mark for Silver to place a bowl in, and he also didn’t crawl back into the sleeping bag entirely. Settling next to him and slurping his own soup, Silver wondered how to best bring up the conversation of Venice’s powers. He certainly wasn’t planning to sweep it under the rug and pretend like nothing had happened, though he was quite sure Venice would have preferred it that way. <em>What should I do?</em></p><p>With the silence bearing down on them Silver wracked his brain to find a way to talk to Venice. Eventually he just blurted out the first thing he could think of. “Y-you know, having psychic powers is actually kinda neat!” Next to him, he could tell that Venice immediate froze up again, unmoving and still as a statue other than taking rapid breaths. Silver felt the other’s power pass through the room like a shockwave as he spoke his words. Well, he couldn’t give up now.</p><p>“Have you ever wanted to learn how to fly? It’s honestly so peaceful and beautiful, to just soar around on the wind and watching the land stretch out below you.” At his words Silver could feel his own beloved psychic energy thrum gently inside him, as to assure him he could do this. He leaned back against the wall and continued, glancing at a few objects that came floating by due to Venice’s power. “Using them just feels… nice, I guess. Like I can do anything I put my mind to… well, that’s literally the case, I suppose.” He chuckled at his own joke, and he was certain that he heard a very small laugh from inside the sleeping bag as well.</p><p>Glancing over to the sleeping bag, he saw that his friend had revealed himself a little bit more, and the other’s power seemed to be a bit calmer too. Now blue pupils and irises were staring up at him, still filled with fear, but he could have sworn that he saw the tiniest spark of intrigue in there. Maybe if he just brought this in the right way, and left out some of the more unpleasant details, like how long it had taken him to even get the slightest grasp on his own powers and the physical and mental exhaustion they had wrecked him with… He thought for a second about the best way to keep talking, then continued.</p><p>“There are lots of types of psychic powers, but ours is called telekinesis specifically. I prefer to use the term psychokinesis though, since I can do more than only move stuff with my mind. With psychokinesis, you can manipulate the environment in any way you want. Take me, I can use my powers to lift up small things, but also really big, heavy things, and myself when I want to fly. And it allows me to feel things around me without actually having to see them! My friends say it means they give me good spatial awareness, but all I know is that it’s really useful for grabbing objects from behind you. And I don’t only use them for myself, they’re also really nifty to help other people! They’re always amazed when they see what I can pull off with them, and so grateful when I aid them with something…” he trailed off, watching Venice’s reactions intently. The other had crawled a bit closer still and in his eyes he could see both terror and fascination. Silver smiled inwardly. He almost got him…!</p><p>Playing coy, Silver continued as if he hadn’t seen Venice shift closer or eat up every word he said. “My powers are a part of me, and using them makes me feel exhilarated. I’m sure if you learned how to work with them, they’ll make you feel ecstatic, too. If you want, I could teach you how to use them?” He turned towards Venice completely and extended his hand. The other looked at it, frozen entirely, every object that had been floating in the room suspended in the air as well. Silver could clearly see the battle between Venice’s terror and curiosity go on inside his head. After a few moments, that to Silver felt like they lasted forever, Venice extended his hand to Silver’s, gently clasping it and taking a deep breath. “I-I t-think I would… I w-would l-like that.”</p><p>Silver smiled widely as he squeezed Venice’s hand back. Hook, line, and sinker.</p><p>------</p><p>It had been a few days since their one-sided talk, and Silver had no words to express just how proud he was of Venice and the progress he had made in such a short time. They had started out the way Silver had as a child, focusing only on small objects such as pebbles instead of the much more daunting crates and cars he himself could move so easily. While Venice at first was too afraid to even try grabbing and lifting whatever Silver pointed out to him, and often lost control of the situation, with the hedgehog’s tips and encouragements he had quickly moved up from small rocks to consecutively larger pieces of debris and some crates. Despite his desire to get back to the past, Silver had considered himself lucky that they were in a ruined world with no other inhabitants; while he could easily hijack Venice’s powers when they got out of hand, he couldn’t prevent the occasional toppling-over of skyscrapers and extra damages to the buildings in their already pitiful state, and he dreaded thinking about the damages Venice would have caused in the populated world. Well, he had started out in a similar manner; due to Venice’s older age and with Silver’s help he picked up the necessary skills much easier and with a lot less fuss than Silver had.</p><p>His teachings also had positive effects on Venice’s personality, he had noticed. While it had been clear that his friend had been terrified to step out of line or speak his mind from the moment they had met, with Silver’s praise and every new good experience he had with his powers Silver could see him bloom and flourish. He talked a bit more and stuttered less now, on occasion even showcasing some of the smugness and cockiness Silver knew he also possessed. It made him worry he wasn’t as good of a role model as he had wanted to be, but on the other hand he could only encourage the shift in Venice’s personality from a frightened teen to someone much more wide-eyed and confident.    </p><p>According to his Miles Electric it now had been 15 days since he had entered this future. Between practicing with Venice, cooking and sleeping, and studying all the documents he had found in the library more than a week ago, groaning frustratedly at every dead end and undecipherable riddle they resulted in, Silver honestly felt too busy to even worry about anything else. But when he was practicing with Venice in the afternoon, he suddenly realised that he needed to find a way to take them both back to the past. Tails had told him that he had been working on an invention that allowed the user to travel between time and dimensions freely, but so far the contraption was still much too dangerous to use and as such he was left needing other methods.</p><p>“Watch out!” Lost in thought, Silver nearly got hit by one of the crates Venice had flung away, only managing to punt it to the side at the last second with his own powers. He stared at the other, eyes wide and his quills raised in defense. Venice just looked back at him with concern in his gaze.</p><p>“Are you alright, Silver?” He had probably appeared very scatter-brained… He cleared his throat awkwardly.</p><p>“Yeah, sorry. Just mulling over some things.” Silver could tell instantly that his words had not convinced his counterpart, who walked over to him and gestured for them to sit down.</p><p>“May I ask what is on your mind?” Venice asked softly, looking at him intently. Silver sighed. He needed to tell his friend about his plans to travel back with him to the past anyway. He had no idea how the other would react, but this was as good a moment as any, he decided. Rolling the words around in his head, he decided on how to best bring it.</p><p>“So… you know I’m a time traveller trying to save this world, right? I need to find a way to go back to the past in order to do so.” Venice seemed to follow, but his gaze had become unreadable. That was a bad sign, but Silver couldn’t discern any problems with his words, so he went on regardless. “Remember how I told you about the Chaos Emeralds once, the mystical gems that you can use to create miracles? I need to find one of those, but I have no idea where to look and- hey!”</p><p>Venice had abruptly jumped up, lips trembling and pain clear in his eyes. He looked just like he did in the first few days when Silver had met him, any made progress completely gone. For a few seconds they stared at each other, Silver feeling surprised and Venice clearly suffering, before the latter wailed out an “<strong>I knew it!” </strong>which resulted in all their crates and other practice material getting thrust away, breaking and scattering as they got flung against buildings. Silver could feel the road they were standing on tremble, and he jumped up as well, holding his hands out in a gesture of peace.</p><p>“Venice, what’s wrong?” His concerned question seemed to make the other only more upset. Silver noticed pebbles and grit getting lifted up, and knew from experience that the other was experiencing such strong emotions that he could no longer control his powers, just like what happened in the library. He had to treat carefully.</p><p>The other psychic seemed too dismayed to be able to form any full sentences, all Silver could make out were words and fragments between his cries. “You <em>promised</em>… you <em>said</em>…<em> care </em>for me… going to <em>leave </em>me …” Silver felt shocked at the other’s words.</p><p>“Venice, I’m not gonna leave you! When did I ever say that?!” He reached out for the other in hopes of calming him down, but Venice just cried out “NO!” and pushed him away with his powers like he had done with the crates. Silver had expected that, catching himself gracefully with his powers before he got even close to smacking into a skyscraper, but when his eyes fell on the other’s hands he felt his mouth fall right open. Instead of the teal colour that Silver knew from both himself and Venice, purple sparks were flying from the other’s palms instead. “Venice, your hands!”</p><p>Silver could tell the other had been fully prepared for Silver to rush back to him again, but at his flabbergasted exclamation Venice’s eyes fell on his hands as well. In an instant the anguish had shifted to pure fear, and he cried out as the sparks increased in size and intensity. “No, no…! <em>Not again</em>!”</p><p>With Venice’s wail, the sparks manifested in a beam that shot out of his hands. Silver was at his side in an instant, looking in amazement at what happened before them. He felt reality <em>tear</em>, opening up into a portal coloured bright purple. Was that… a Genesis portal? Venice’s cry of despair that followed shook him out of his stupor, and he quickly went over the possibilities of what he could do. If such a thing could be opened with psychic powers, then maybe he could use them to shut it as well. He wasted no time. Focusing his mind on the swirling void and grabbing it with his powers, he willed it to <em>close</em>. To his immense relief, the portal obliged, shrinking as he brought his hands together and disappearing entirely when he clasped them.</p><p>With the portal gone, all that was left on the road they were standing on were a very surprised Silver and a whimpering Venice. All Silver could manage to utter out was a “Wow…”, before shaking his head quickly and deciding to focus on the matter at hand first. He would have enough time to wonder about what happened later. Reaching out for Venice, Silver carefully shook him a little. “Venice, are you alright?” He got an terrified glare in return. The other gasped for breath for a few moments more before he calmed down enough to respond.</p><p>“Why did you not jump in that… you could have used it to leave me,” he heard the other muttered bitterly, staring down at the ground dejectedly. Silver gently placed his hand on Venice’s cheek to lift up his face, then gave him the most stern, disapproving glare he could muster.</p><p>“I never said I was going to leave you, that’s what <em>you</em> made of it.” He pulled Venice into a hug, and was immensely relieved when the other didn’t push him away this time. “Why would I want to leave you, silly? You’re my friend, and friends don’t abandon each other!” Venice went slack against him, wrapping two trembling arms around his midriff and mumbling in his shoulder.</p><p>“I’unno… I guess… you just said that… and I just assumed…” Silver waited patiently for him to find the words. Eventually Venice lifted himself out of the chest fur around his shoulder, though he didn’t look Silver in the eye.  “I guess I just assumed that you had gotten tired of me. And that you didn’t want me around anymore. And that you’d be sickened by me because I can’t control my powers.” He lowered his gaze for a second, then looked up to Silver. “I’m… sorry.”</p><p>Silver was speechless, unable to say anything for a few seconds before he could find his voice again. <em>So <strong>that’s</strong> why he is always so scared…</em> His heart welled up with pity for the other. “It’s alright, Venice. You will be able to control your powers soon enough, you don’t sicken me at all. And I swear, I wasn’t going to leave you behind.”</p><p>“…Do you promise?”</p><p>Silver smiled. “Yes, I promise.”</p><p>“And…” Venice went silent for a few seconds, staring intensely at Silver's shoulder instead of his eyes. “D-do you also promise that you’ll take care of me? Even when we go back to the past?”</p><p>Silver chuckled softly. “Have I not been doing that for the last two weeks? It would be my pleasure. You have my word.” He pulled Venice closer, allowing him to bury his face in his shoulder once more, and very gently moved two fingers behind his ear to scratch it. He could have sworn that the other started to purr a little. A few minutes passed, wherein Silver massaged Venice’s ear and Venice pressed his face into Silver, relief coming off of him in waves, before they parted fully. To Silver’s immense relief, Venice seemed to have calmed down entirely, chewing his lip in contemplation as he stared at nothing in particular.</p><p>“You said you needed to find a Chaos Emerald to travel, right? Do you know where to find one?” While Silver had wanted to discuss the inevitable hunt they would have to go on with Venice before the other’s breakdown, an idea had started to develop in his head during their hug. He smiled boldly.</p><p>“Actually… I think I have a more solid plan than hunting for the Chaos Emeralds now.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And yet another chapter on the same day! I myself think that Silver does not have the *best* social skills, and as such he might miss out on clues on how people are feeling, or realise what effect his words have on others, though at the same time he's very perceptive. He definitely hadn't picked up on Venice fearing to be left behind!</p><p>As for why Venice suddenly freaked out like this, despite preparing himself for days on end that he would be abandoned, I figured that Silver talking about finding an actual means to go back to the past came very unexpectedly for him and brought back all his fears and anxieties in one fell swoops, explaining his reaction. I also love the dramatic irony between writing Silver being all like "yeah I can never leave Venice behind" and Venice at the same time thinking like "yeah Silver's totally gonna leave me behind". Luckily for them that got resolved now!</p><p>I needed a means for Venice to travel to Frozen City, and as such I went with the Genesis portals from the Archie comics. Gold the Tenrec, who also has psychic powers (though she has telepathy instead of telekinesis) could also open them, which is why I gave Venice the same ability. I'm sure Silver could do the same, and Venice could close them as well. In regards to Silver knowing what it is, he likes learning, and probably read a lot about time, space, and the dimensional fabric, and as such had heard about them before, though this is the first time he'd seen one in person. </p><p>I presume this is the last chapter I'll upload today, but I'll be back soon!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8:  Inside the Portal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver gets impatient, really should have thought this out better, and Venice reveals a bit more about himself.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next few days went by in a rush. During the day Silver and Venice would train the other’s powers, and in the quieter hours of the evening when Venice usually had collapsed with exhaustion already Silver studied the book and files he had gotten from the library over and over. It didn’t really seem like anyone wrote down what had happened in detail, in people’s diaries and newspapers he could only find some vague mentions of an attack that had taken place. He was willing to swear his life on it that it was Eggman’s doing again. Whatever had happened, it had been sudden, presumably followed by a mass panic. Thinking about the despair that his friends must have gone through made him immensely upset, and he squashed down the thoughts about that every time they drifted to the surface.</p><p>His sources also mentioned that suddenly the world had gone dark and had frozen over, and with a little bit of sleuthing he discovered it had to have happened at basically the same time as Eggman’s assault. It explained why this world was as dark and cloudy as the one where he had grown up, though his original timeline had been burning while this one was freezing. In the former it had been caused by the abundance of ash and sooth in the air from the Ifrit, while the sky in Frozen City was filled with dark snowclouds. As such, he had moved on to the more educational and objective books on the atmosphere and meteorology, to see if he could explain the sudden drop in temperature. He read about volcanic explosions and nuclear winters, and while the pessimistic information they gave him made his skin crawl it did not fit with the attack he also read about. It couldn’t have been an natural disaster, and Eggman didn’t seem like the type to nuke the entire planet, often happily proclaiming that he wanted to have something left to rule over… or had something gone wrong with his plans, something even the genius could not have foreseen?</p><p>Waking up one morning with his head collapsed on his shoulder and his whole body aching from his unfortunate sleeping position, – he had fallen asleep while going over the sources instead of making it to his bed – Silver groaned and rubbed his temples as he resisted the urge to fling the useless brittle books at the wall. Venice was waking up too, freeing himself from the confines of the sleeping bag and yawning as he stared at Silver’s grumpy face. Silver just shrugged noncommittally and prepared to make breakfast. Yes, for his own sake and emotional wellbeing, it was time to get back to the past.</p><p>------</p><p>“Are you sure about this, Venice?” Silver eyed his friend carefully as they stood outside their shelter, presumably for the last time. The two psychics had carefully trained Venice’s ability to open the Genesis portals, along with helping him get a better grip on his telekinesis. Silver was not even sure he himself possessed the power to tear apart space-time like that, instead opting to spend all his time focusing on developing Venice’s skills rather than his own, since they at least knew for sure that he was able pull it off. With his food storage getting depleted twice as quickly and his backpack getting more empty as the days rushed by, Silver knew that they had to leave soon. While he had kept an eye out for any Chaos Emeralds, it was as if they had disappeared off the face of the planet: he couldn’t sense them anywhere near. Venice was their last hope of getting out of here, but Silver had decided to leave that detail out of their conversations; he did not want to put any additional pressure on his friend.</p><p>Venice himself was staring out wishfully at the rocks making up their shelter, looking immensely disheartened as he grappled the coat he was wearing like his life depended on it. Silver wracked his brain thinking about what could be bothering the other, before he realised. He gently reached out for Venice, grasping his shoulder and murmuring: “You’re going to miss it, aren’t you?”</p><p>At his words, Venice flinched. “I-I’m sorry… I k-know you don’t like it here b-but…”</p><p>“No, don’t apologise. I get it.” Silver wrapped his arm around Venice fully and pulled the other against him. “This is the only place you’ve really known so far, right? It’s not weird that you feel attached to it.” He decided to not start about the mysterious facility that he presumed Venice had come from, deeming it massively detrimental for the other’s already shaky well-being at the moment. He wondered about what else he could say to say to help Venice. “But the past is beautiful, more beautiful than anything you can imagine. It’s certainly a lot warmer and sunnier than here. And my friends will love you, I promise.” He gently held Venice for a few moments more.</p><p>“…Okay.” Wrenching his gaze away from their shelter, Venice took a deep breath as to steady himself. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”</p><p>Quickly going over his bag as he had done multiple times in the past few days, ensuring that he really had everything with him, Silver let go of Venice and gave him the greenlight. Venice held out his hands in front of him, just as they had practiced, and took another deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing deeply. Silver had faith that Venice knew what to do, they had practiced this song and dance a lot in the past few days, but he still could see the other’s hands subtly tremble as purple sparks started to form around them. With bated breath Silver hoped for the best.</p><p>The purple sparks multiplied and became bigger as they suddenly jumped into a beam, which tore away from Venice’s hands and into the fabric of reality, pulling it apart into a portal of swirling purple. Silver cheered as he jumped up and pumped his fist in the air. “You did it, Ven!”</p><p>“Y-yes.” Venice seemed to be a lot less enthusiastic than Silver, staring up at the portal in just as much alarm as the first time this had happened. He looked as if his feet were positively rooted in the ground, making no attempt to jump in the portal as Silver readied himself. The latter, seeing that the creator of the portal just stood gaping at it instead of coming along with him, tipped his head in confusion, turning towards Venice once more.</p><p>“Venice, are you <em>sure</em> you’re alright?” Silver noticed how the other looked absolutely terrified, gawking at the portal with his mouth open and his face frozen in fear. Taking a peek at the portal showed he that it had begun to swirl more intensely, and he could have sworn it was growing bigger by the second. Silver could feel the instability it brought to the dimensional matrix and grimaced; they had to get out of there soon, before the rift closed in on itself or the space-time fabric got too damaged… or worse. Weighting his options in his head, considering either grabbing Venice and jumping in or trying to calm the other first, Silver decided to go with the quickest approach, though he was sure the other psychic would not be appreciative.</p><p>“Ven, I’m sorry for this,” Silver said quickly, wrapping his arm around the other’s torso and lifting him up, holding him against his own body for support while still having an arm and hand free. Venice cried out in alarm at the unexcepted movement and floundered, which got worse as Silver prepared himself to jump through the Genesis Portal.</p><p>“No! No, <em>stop</em>!” While Venice’s panicked cry cut through his heart Silver knew they had no choice, the portal would soon be too unstable for either of them to do something about it, and judging by Venice’s reaction he doubted he could convince the other to do the whole thing again. Taking a small running start, clasping Venice against him even tighter as the other struggled and wailed to be let go, he jumped into the portal and disappeared in its depths. He turned around just to see it collapse and close behind him, trapping both psychics in the purple void it led to and closing them off from Frozen City entirely.</p><p>Silver gulped. While Chaos Control was near-instantaneous and held barely any negative consequences for its user as long as they were experienced, floating through what he could only consider to be the inside of the dimensional matrix and feeling the energies that it contained made him feel sick to his stomach. They pulled at his psychokinesis, making it race through his body as he fought to contain it. He could only wonder how it made the much less experienced Venice feel.</p><p>An unexpected though crept into his mind and Silver realised with a jolt that he hadn’t considered what to do <em>after</em> they’d entered the portal… Had he really been so stupid to assume that there would simply be another portal waiting for them, to take them directly to Sonic’s era!? Silver’s eyes went wide at his short-sightedness and he fought to calm himself down. They could… they could just use Venice’s power to open another portal. Yes, he merely had to find the correct place for the rift to be opened so that they ended up in the right dimension and time, and then they’d be just fine.</p><p>But taking another look at Venice showed him that he other hedgehog seemed to have nearly succumbed to his panic; Silver could hear him hyperventilate as his hands clawed into Silver’s arm and he trashed around. Glancing around and deeming the place safe for now, Silver took the opportunity to try and calm Venice down. But as he rocked the other and murmured gentle words in his ears, trying to not show his own unease, it became clear to him that Venice was too far gone to listen, let alone open up another portal. Silver felt his own panic rising at the thought of being trapped here. He couldn’t give up now!</p><p>Thoughts racing a mile a minute, Silver came up with a new plan on the spot. While he had never done it himself he <em>had</em> helped Venice with learning what to do exactly; if Venice could willingly open a Genesis portal based only on his teachings then he had to be able to as well, and if he wasn’t he would make himself be able. He noticed that if he concentrated really hard, he could develop a vague idea where a portal in each position in the interdimensional matrix would lead to. <em>If I can find the place to open a Genesis portal that leads to the past, we’re out of here…!</em></p><p>With still-panicking Venice still firmly in his grasp, Silver flew through the dimensional matrix as fast as he could, trying to find the correct spot to open a new portal that led to Sonic’s era. It had to be close to where they had entered, right? <em>Almost, almost</em>… Coming nearer, he could feel the specific site call out to him, as if he instinctively knew where he had to be in order to get back to his beloved past era.</p><p>
  <em>There!</em>
</p><p>Fixing his eyes on a particular spot in the matrix that to the outside eye looked no different from the rest, Silver shifted Venice from his arm onto his back, feeling his backpack get pressed unpleasantly into his back and the other’s trembling hands claw into his shoulders. He desperately hoped the hedgehog would not let go. Deciding to have faith in Venice, Silver closed his eyes and held his hands out in front of him, thinking about how he had explained the use of their powers to Venice. In his mind’s eye, he imagined <em>grasping</em> the fabric of space-time itself with his powers, and <em>ripping</em> it apart. He could feel his palms start to tingle, the sensation becoming more intense as his focus increased. <em>Just a little more… </em>The power rushed from his mind to his hands, the sparks forming into a purple beam that tore away from him, right into the matrix. Gasping, his eyes flying wide open and his body arching due to the exceptional feeling, Silver watched as a Genesis portal ripped the spot apart. Taking barely a second to check if both his backpack and Venice were still there, Silver flung himself at the rift, passing through and crashing into a grassy field on the other side. Jumping up and reaching out with his powers once more, he grappled the portal and closed it with such force he knocked himself right on the ground on his back, where he laid for a multitude of seconds to try and catch his breath as his heard hammered in his chest and his greatly diminished powers frantically buzzed throughout him. That had been too close, but they had made it… <em>Venice</em>!</p><p>Rolling over on his side and then his stomach so he could prop himself up and look around, Silver frantically looked around for the other psychic until he saw him. Venice had landed only a few feet away from him, and was now staring at him with one eye closed, pressed on the ground, while the other was filled with clear betrayal.</p><p>“Ven… are you alright?” Silver hoisted himself up painfully and wobbled over to the other, collapsing once more next to him. Venice scrambled away hastily, hackles raised and looking both very frightened and very angry at the same time. Silver’s little stunt probably betrayed his trust a lot, but it wasn’t like he had had another choice… He just hoped the other hedgehog would hear him out.</p><p>Venice bared his fangs at him and hissed: “Why did you <em>do</em> that?! I told you <em>no</em>!” His anger dissipated and got replaced by a look that was filled to the brim with sadness. “Why didn’t you <em>listen</em> to me…? We could have died in there.”</p><p>Silver moved over to him once more, praising himself lucky that Venice allowed him to come closer and stroke his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ven. But it was the only way I could think of for us to get out of there.”</p><p>“’s Okay.” Venice seemed to have deflated completely, not protesting as Silver sat down next to him and wrapped his arms around him for a hug, though he didn’t attempt to hug back. Silver gently rocked him as he had done so many times before. He had tons of questions burning in his mind…</p><p>“Venice… why are you so scared of the Genesis portal?” The other stiffened immediately. It made Silver immensely suspicious, and his answer only made it worse.</p><p>“…No reason.”</p><p>“Come on, Ven, you don’t seriously think I’m gonna buy that for even a single second,” Silver spoke sternly. He had always respected the other’s secrecy, but after nearly getting stranded due to the other’s panic, he now wanted answers. “Have you travelled inside one before?”</p><p>“It’s none of your business,” came the frosty reply. Venice seemed to be getting quite worked up once more, but so was Silver.</p><p>“If you had told me you were scared, I’d have looked for a different way for us to get back to the past! I don’t want you to suffer!” Feeling himself hit a breaking point, Silver jumped up and started to pace around agitatedly to get rid of the extra energy, under the angry glare of Venice. “I don’t even know what <em>happened </em>to you, and you keep refusing to tell me! And I want to help you, but I can’t since you keep being tight-lipped about yourself! And look at the result, we nearly got stuck in there! If I had known that you’d be too frightened to I wouldn’t have made you! I know you’re afraid, but if you just talked to me, then-“</p><p>“SHUT UP!” Venice had jumped up as well, eyes blazing and his hands balled in fists. “I can’t tell you, I’ll never tell you! You’re gonna hate me!”</p><p>“Haven’t we gone over this?! I promised I’d take care of you! Nothing you can tell me is going to change that!”</p><p>The two psychics stood opposite of each other, eyes blazing and quills raised. Neither said anything until Silver took a very deep breath and loosened his stance, his earlier intensity entirely lost. “We’re not going to get anywhere like this,” he concluded sombrely, turning away from Venice and gesturing for the other to follow him. “I won’t ask again, if you don’t want to tell me. I suggest we just go to the headquarters of the Restoration now, and don’t talk about it again.” He took a few steps towards a path he saw intersecting the clearing, then glanced over his shoulder again as he noticed Venice made no attempt to follow him. “Are you coming?”</p><p>“I-I…” Whatever Venice had wanted to say was clearly unable to come out of his mouth, and as such he just nodded towards Silver shakily before falling in line behind him. Silver got painfully reminded of how Venice had been in the first few days after they had met, terrified and utterly unable to stand on his own two legs. He grabbed the Miles Electric from his backpack and began to look for their location to keep his mind away from it.</p><p>They had been walking in silence for a while on the path, Silver in the front and Venice a few feet behind him, before the latter suddenly stopped walking. Silver, missing the sound of the nervous patter instantly, turned around once more, putting his Miles Electric away quickly and tipping his head to the other as to ask him what was wrong. Venice stood entirely rigidly for a few seconds, hands balled into fists held up to his chest, before a wail passed his lips and he rushed at Silver, sobbing desperately. The hedgehog, having expected this to happen, caught him in his arms and pulled him close in a soul-crushing hug, both stuttering out apologies to the other. Eventually Venice calmed down enough to be able to talk.</p><p>“I <em>w-want</em> to tell you… I’m s-scared…” His words lapsed into whimpers.</p><p>“Venice.” Silver lifted his friend’s head up a little bit so they looked each other in the eye, glancing at him sternly like he had done in Frozen City. “I promise, whatever you tell me won’t diminish my opinion on you the slightest bit. I might not know what happened exactly, but I know you’ve been hurt, and I want to be able to help you. But I can only help you properly if you tell me what exactly is going on. I won’t get mad, I promise.”</p><p>Venice relaxed into the hug, relief coming off of him like waves. He was quiet for a few seconds more, in which Silver waited patiently for an answer. “…O-okay… I’ll tell you.”</p><p>Silver settled them comfortably on the grass next to the road, wrapping his arm around Venice while pressing the hedgehog’s face into his chest fur and placing his own hand on the back of the other’s head. “I’m listening.”</p><p>Venice chewed his lip in contemplation, his brows furrowing as he stared at Silver’s shoulder. “…I’m not even sure myself, but I think I come from… a science facility. I… I have little memories of where I’m <em>really</em> from, and who I am, or what they did to me and what happened… They used to do experiments on me, making me use my powers, and just… studying me? Even though I didn’t want to…” Venice’s stare had become a lot darker, and Silver pulled him against himself a bit more. “It <em>hurt</em>.”</p><p>“But you got out of there, didn’t you?” Silver murmured gently into the other’s quills. The other chuckled darkly.</p><p>“I barely even remember how. They were talking about doing more experiments, and I knew I was going to suffer. I just had to get out of there. Everything inside me just went… haywire. Like in the city when I thought you were going to leave me.”</p><p>Silver hummed in understanding. “And to get away… you subconsciously opened a Genesis portal then.” Everything started to make a lot more sense to him now.</p><p>“I must have… I don’t know what happened to them when I escaped.” His gaze had gotten even darker still, and he shakily grasped Silver’s back. “I hope they all suffered. I hope they all <em>perished</em>.”</p><p>And Silver understood. Gently stroking the other’s head, he patiently waited for him to recover and continue with his story.</p><p>Venice took a deep breath. “I was so scared inside that purple void… I thought I was going to die. My powers went out of control once more, and they ripped open a new portal that I fell through. And then I ended up in Frozen City. I knew it was unsafe there too, I kept tripping and hurting myself, and it was just so cold... But mostly I feared they were going to come after me, so I hid.”</p><p>Silver chuckled, thinking back to when he had found Venice. “And then your local time traveller plucked you from underneath your pile of rubble and took you with him.” Venice smiled quietly and settled himself a little more comfortably into his chest fur. “So he did.”</p><p>Silver mulled over what the other had told him. All Venice’s anxieties, his fear of his powers, and his general skittish behaviour definitely made more sense now. There was still one thing on Silver’s mind, though based on what Venice had yelled at him he could imagine what the answer would be. “Why did you not tell me this before? I could have helped you so much earlier…”</p><p>The other sniffled. “I-I thought… if I were to tell you… I thought you’d make me go <em>b-back</em>, or that you were g-going to hurt me, and then I thought you’d h-hate me, for w-wanting them d-dead… and I d-don’t e-even <em>know</em> if they…”</p><p>“Shh, shh, it’s okay, I understand. If they’re still out there, they won’t find you here, and if they do I’ll protect you. They’ll never be able to hurt you again,” Silver soothed. Venice stifled a sob as he buried his face on the white fluff entirely, taking a few shaky breaths to compose himself. Eventually, he stood up fully, fiercely upright despite Silver being able to see his limbs trembling. Silver lifted himself up as well, gracefully landing on the ground and shooting Venice a grin.  </p><p>“What do you say we set sail towards Restoration HQ now? My friends would love to meet you, I’m sure.” As he spoke Silver glanced out over the rest of the road, trying to determine where it would lead to. In the far distance he thought he could make out a city, though he had no idea which one it was. He hadn’t been able to determine much with his Miles Electric. Well, they could solve that problem once they got there; all he wanted now was to find a safe place for him and Venice to get something to eat and then sleep for hours, preferably in a warm location. He was thoroughly sick of cold weather conditions for now.</p><p>As if he knew what he was thinking, Venice chuckled softly. “Let’s go, then.” They walked away in the direction of the city on the horizon, but this time, they walked next to each other.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Update time!! Right now I am fully through my buffer, so new updates might take a bit longer. But yeah, both Silver and Venice are really put through the wringer in this one! Venice definitely fears that Silver would think badly of him for wanting his captors/torturers dead, but honestly Silver seems exactly like the guy who'd understand, seeing as he had absolutely no qualms against killing Sonic in '06. I personally think it's good Silver got agitated/angry with Venice, if he had kept trying to tackle it with the soft approach Venice probably would never have told him. Silver definitely has a temper (and so does Venice), so they presumably wouldn't have been able to keep that up anyway. </p><p>My boys are in the past now! I'm kind of following the IDW timeline, so Knuckles disbanded the Resistance and Amy is the head of the Restoration. Just a little bit of backstory! I might not include IDW characters such as Tangle and Whisper though, I'm a firm believer of only putting in characters that can contribute to the plot in some way, and I don't want to make things too crowded. My apologies to any fans!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9: Another First Meeting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver makes a not-well-thought-out decision, Venice gets left behind, and Sonic thought today was going to be the best day ever but makes multiple bad first impressions instead.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They had been walking for a while now, Silver either between typing on his machine (he had called it a Miles Electric, Venice recalled), or enthusiastically pointing out plants and the occasional insect. Venice took in everything he was so passionately told, listening intently with his ears pricked. The bright yellow thing in the sky, the sun that Silver had used to come up with his name, felt nice on his skin, and he loved the warmer temperatures that he had told would be here. While he had been in the past for only hours at most, he already infinitely preferred this era over Frozen City. He could see why his friend loved it so much, he had never seen such beautiful scenery in his life.</p><p>“The Restoration Headquarters are located in a city called Sunset City,” Silver explained to him as they walked on the path towards a valley that laid sprawled out between mountains. “It’s located in the middle of a lake! They built it very ingeniously, with a huge bridge connecting all the different islands that the city is made of.” His gaze grew disquieted. “It was the best place for us to put our base during the war, with the lake ensuring that Eggman had trouble positioning his forces in the city. Not that that stopped him…” Venice frowned at the other’s melancholy tone of voice. While Silver loved talking about the past, he mentioned the war he and his friends had fought in only sporadically, and whatever had happened between that and his trip to Frozen City even less. Venice considered it better to not bring it up. It was clear to him that the hedgehog had suffered massively during that time.</p><p>Venice could see Silver take a last look at his Miles Electric and then glanced out over the fields towards the city they were walking to. Now that they had come closer, Venice thought he could see the sunlight shimmering out of the city in an odd manner, and a red structure in its middle. Also, the buildings weren’t connected to each other like they had been in Frozen City, instead consisting of clusters with the weird sunlight coming from between them. Next to him Silver whooped with excitement, his earlier sadness forgotten. “That’s Sunset City! We made it!”</p><p>Looking at the city as well, Venice wasn’t too sure what to make of it. It certainly looked prettier than Frozen City had, and definitely also much less destroyed, but it was still quite a distance away from where they were standing right now, and he honestly just wanted to curl up somewhere safe and go to sleep. He also had not yet forgotten the incident with the collapsing highway… That bridge certainly didn’t look like it was on the ground, what with the yellow pool of light that it was located on top of. What if he walked on it and it collapsed under him as the road had done in Frozen City?</p><p>Unknowing of his worries, Silver grasped his hand and enthusiastically began to pull him along, clearly desiring to get to the city as quickly as possible. Not wanting to let him down, Venice followed gallantly, supressing his fears for now as he ran with the hedgehog over the path, the city coming closer on the horizon. As long as Silver was with him, nothing bad would happen for sure.</p><p>However, as they got closer to the city Venice thought he’d get a heart attack. There were <em>people </em>on the road, and they looked nothing like him or Silver. His friend had explained to him that there were more inhabitants of the past than just the two of them, but Venice still felt his skin crawl as they went past the visitors of the area. They were <em>staring </em>at them, undoubtedly looking at how they came running past as maniacs, and Venice glanced in fear at all of them. This was quickly becoming too much.</p><p>Silver suddenly skidded to a halt, and Venice nearly collapsed against his back. Wondering why they had stopped, he peeked past the other’s shoulder. In front of them, two people were arguing, both waving their hands around and clearly looking very distressed. Venice noticed how oddly they were dressed; they both had a green scarf around their neck, though not made of fur like his orange one, and they wore green boots with black tips and similar-styled green gloves. One of them noticed the two hedgehogs near and gasped excitedly, and the other, wondering why the first’s attention was no longer on her, looked as well and followed suit. They made their way over to Silver and him, waving excitedly, but instead of scaring them away Silver… waved back?</p><p>“Hello!” Silver greeted them warmly as the two came within earshot. Venice desperately tried to align himself perfectly behind the hedgehog, so that the strangers wouldn’t see him. “You’re from the Restoration, aren’t you? What’s wrong?”</p><p>“You’re Lieutenant Silver, right? Sir, there’s a huge problem in one of the surrounding villages!” The male Restoration member seemed to be quite panicked, waving his arms around wildly, until his female companion bonked him on the head, clearly having decided she would lead this conversation instead.</p><p>“Mister Silver, in one of the surrounding villages some of the houses and construction material got toppled over, and some workers are still trapped underneath. Sunset City is too far away, the Restoration aid still hasn’t arrived, and we don’t know what to do!” the girl gasped, clearly not as in charge of her emotions as she had wanted to seem like.</p><p>Listening to her story, Venice could see Silver’s pose grow more determined with every word, and the hedgehog quickly spoke the words he feared he would: “I’ll come help out. Please, show me where to go, I can fly us there quickly.” He attempted to bound towards the two Restoration members, but Venice squeaked in fear when he moved away and quickly grabbed his arm from behind.  </p><p>“Don’t leave me…” he whimpered, terrified. Silver looked back at him with a glance that at first was surprised, but that quickly got replaced with sympathy. He turned back and gently clasped Venice’s shoulders.</p><p>“Ven, there’s people in danger, and I can help them. Everything’s gonna turn out okay, I promise.” His reassuring words did nothing to convince Venice, who grasped his arm only harder. Venice could see him think quickly. “Would you perhaps like to come with me?” Venice shook his head firmly at the question. He could tell there would be more people at the place of the accident, and the two who had talked to Silver were already gaping at him extensively, sending shivers down his spine.</p><p>Silver looked around, before his eyes fell on something just behind Venice and his gaze lit up. He quickly picked Venice up a little bit, who squeaked in surprise and slight indignance, before flying back and gently placing him on what Venice knew was called a bench. “You can stay here and enjoy the view, and I’ll help out the citizens. I won’t be long, I promise.” Venice let Silver ruffle his quills, everything going too fast for him to fully process what was going on, before the hedgehog moved away fully and dashed back towards the two Restoration members. Just before he reached them, he turned back once more. “Stay right there, okay? Everything’s gonna be just fine!” Venice saw him quickly discuss something with the two, before lifting them up with his psychokinesis. He turned once more to wave at Venice, and with that, he was gone. </p><p>Venice sat on the bench, completely frozen other than his nervous twiddling with his gloves and the hem of Silver’s coat. He anxiously stared at everyone who passed, too scared out of his mind to even try and enjoy the scenery as Silver had suggested. But as the minutes went by, some people only nodding to him and other not paying any attention to him at all, and no one made any move to attack, he relaxed the tiniest bit. Silver had never lied to him before, and he said he would be back soon. Venice could wait a little longer, and nothing would happen. Yes, everything was going to turn out just-</p><p>“Heya, Silv! You’re back a lot sooner than you said you would be! I see Amy finally convinced you to put on her coat?”</p><p>At the loud voice behind him plus the hand that clasped his shoulder Venice <em>screeched</em>, jumping up three feet in the air and the surprise making him lose control of his power, which came out in a shockwave that sent away everything moveable in its radius. As he collapsed on the ground, an “oompf!” from the mysterious voice made him whirl around, and he scrambled backwards in a panic as he stared into the startled green eyes of a blue hedgehog.</p><p>----</p><p>
  <em>Earlier that day</em>
</p><p>The first rays of the sun hit his eyelids as they shot open, and he threw the covers off himself with a laugh. Jumping out of bed with an elaborate cartwheel, he shot into his shoes, then did two hundred push-ups for his morning routine, which took him less than half a minute anyway. Every fibre in his body, the bright sunlight coming in through the window and the songs of the birds outside told him that today was going to be a marvellous day, filled with laughter and adventure. Throwing open his bedroom door, he bounded towards the stairs, peeking behind him cheekily as if to check whether the other door in the hallway was still closed, before he clambered up on the railing and grinded down rapidly, finishing off with another elaborate cartwheel as he came downstairs and made his way to the kitchen. Yes, Sonic the Hedgehog could tell that today was going to be just perfect.</p><p>Tails entered the kitchen just as he had finished two batches of pancakes while whistling and singing fragments of silly songs and melodies. “Someone got up from the right side of bed this morning,” his little brother greeted him, stretching his arms above his head and fluffing up his tails as he sniffed the air ravenously. Sonic laughed as he grabbed Tails’ plate of the counter, the huge stack of pancakes dripping in chocolate syrup with mint chips and topped with a small amount of strawberries to give it any semblance of healthiness, and handed it to his best friend with an intricate bow.</p><p>“Some breakfast crepes for the scientist magnifique, bon appétit, monsieur,” he spoke in a terrible French chef’s accent, looking at Tails with a glimmer in his eyes as the other stared back before they both burst out laughing. Sonic placed the plate on Tails’ spot at their kitchen island and went back for his own, and Tails managed to wheeze out a “merci beaucoup” as he scrambled up his seat, giggling his head off. The hedgehog saw him mischievously eye the syrup jar that he had placed on the counter and made a show of cutting the perfect cube of butter for his own stack, taking much longer than he usually would to entertain the fox’s ploy. Turning back to Tails and his pancakes that were now much more drowning in chocolate than they had been seconds before, he sauntered over to his own seat and dug into his own stack with an “Enjoy!”, as did Tails.</p><p>Breakfast passed with little incident and much small talk, wherein they mostly discussed if the world was ready for a chili-dog-flavoured pancake (Tails had been appalled at first, but with Sonic’s careful line of reasoning and well-thought-out arguments he had been swayed eventually), after which Sonic supersonically loaded the dishwasher and stretched out once more, pulling at every muscle in his body. He sighed contently.</p><p>“What’re your plans for today, Tails?” he asked the genius fox, who was currently going through their living room like a whirlwind, grabbing books, thrown-away tools and the occasional piece of machinery that littered their entire living space. It was a good thing Amy came over on occasion and made them clean it up while providing intricate ideas for colour-coding, organisation, and storage, although those were quickly forgotten by the house’s residents. While Sonic knew that if they didn’t declutter every once in a while their house would quickly become too hazardous for anyone to live in safely, let alone do cartwheels off the stairs without injury, he wouldn’t have it any other way. This was their home.</p><p>At his question Tails stopped his mad dash for a second to respond. “I need to recalibrate some equipment of the Tornado, and her engine was making a rattling noise which I have to check out, and then I want to see if I can come up with some new upgrades for the old girl.” Tails was just as fond of Sonic’s biplane as he himself was, and Sonic wouldn’t trust her with anyone but his little brother. “What about you?”</p><p>“Eh, just the usual.” Truthfully Sonic hadn’t really thought out yet what his plans were, usually just following wherever his heart and the wind took him. “Going on runs, taking naps, saving people, stopping evil plans from diabolical dictators…” Every day brought a new adventure, and Sonic couldn’t wait to find out what this particular one had in store for him.</p><p>“Make sure to take your communicator with you then!” Tails yelled muffledly, currently stuck headfirst into one of the clumsily-built storage boxes that had sneaked in and become a staple of their household, courtesy of Amy Rose’s cleaning rage. Sonic quickly went over to rescue him, pulling the miffed fox out of the opening and smoothing down his fur while grinning.</p><p>“Right ahead of ya, li’l bro. I’ll make sure to call you the moment anything goes down!” He knew that after what had happened just before Eggman’s war on the world had begun Tails didn’t want to take any chances, and Sonic noticed he had become a lot more careful with some things himself. Besides, it felt nice to know that his friends were just a call away, just in case he ever needed it. Ruffling the fox’s bangs, getting an indignant “hey!” in response, he zipped towards the front door and threw it open, the feeling of the wind and sun on his skin making his day only better. He did a third cartwheel through the door opening to get outside, just to ensure he really started in style, and waved at Tails who was shaking his head at him, though he could see the other laughing as well.</p><p>“Take care, little bro! I’ll be home before dinner!” Waving at Tails one last time, he dashed down to the city, his silhouette disappearing within seconds.</p><p>-----</p><p>With the sun slowly raising higher in the sky, Sonic raced throughout fields and over hills, occasionally whooping and hollering with enthusiasm. Today had been peaceful, with not a single attack from Eggman or assault by his unorganised robots, and Sonic suppressed any thought about how that could potentially be bad news. He could discuss that with Tails over dinner, he didn’t want the idea of the Doctor plotting new diabolical schemes that jeopardised the world to sour his mood.</p><p>From Mystic Ruins where his shared house with Tails was located he had made his way to Sunset City, where the Restoration headquarters were stationed. He had a feeling that if nothing was going to happen today by itself, his next best shot at adventure was with Amy and the Chaotix who were toiling away there, working hard to restore the world to its former glory. Racing through the landscape at top speed, looking at all the beautiful flowers the hills were littered with and naming them in his head, he slowed down a little as he came across a nature area close to the city where more people were walking and enjoying the sun-filled day. On occasion one of the residents recognised him and waved excitedly, and he would wave back or gave a thumbs-up with a grin, though never staying long enough for anyone to strike up a conversation.</p><p>Getting so enthralled at the beauty of the area he nearly missed the flash of grey that flicked by out of the corner of his eyes, skipping to a halt unexpectedly as he realised what he had seen. Turning around, he took notice of the figure that was sitting on a bench a few yards away from him, a bit wayward from the hustle and bustle of the main hub of the area. The grey fur and intriguing hairdo left no doubt who that was, even if Sonic couldn’t see his face, as Silver was sitting with his back away from him. Sonic bolted over in less than a second, grinning widely and clasping his friends shoulder.</p><p>“Heya, Silv! You’re back a lot sooner than you said you would be! I see Amy finally convinced you to put on her coat?”</p><p>While Sonic had expected the other to be surprised by his unexpected appearance, he hadn’t expected him to scream out in fear or fly up into the air, crashing down on the ground immediately afterwards. Sonic had no time to reach out to him or even wince as a shockwave of psychokinetic power beat him right down as well, the wind getting knocked out of his lungs. Scrambling up instantly, as he hadn’t been hurt, he looked at the hedgehog once more, who had turned around as well and was now gaping at him with noticeable fright in his glance. Staring back, Sonic looked into two oddly-formed blue eyes that most certainly weren’t Silver’s.</p><p>------</p><p>Silver rushed back to where he had left Venice, worry having wormed its way in his heart the moment he had to go help the civilians and not leaving until he knew for sure that Venice was safe. While everything turned out okay and the workers trapped under the rubble had only sustained minor injuries, at the time he had heard of the accident he knew he had to act quickly, not wanting to risk possibly losing lives due to indecisiveness. As such he had gone for the quickest, though definitely not smartest option. He just hoped Venice had actually stayed where he had put him.</p><p>Racing back to where the bench was located, Silver jolted when he saw a figure looming past it and Venice lying on the ground. Flying even faster, he skidded to a halt in the air just before the person, puffing his quills up threateningly and yelling out a “Hey!”. No-one would hurt Venice! He relaxed as he identified the figure as Sonic though, the Blue Blur clearly amused by his antics instead of threatened. Pushing down the slight twinge of contempt he felt about the other not taking his very acceptable performance seriously, Silver landed as he took in the scene in front of him. From what he could see the hedgehog had been trying to talk to Venice, hands held out in a peaceful manner in front of him. Venice himself was sitting on the ground, looking immensely alarmed and positioned as if he had scrambled back in fright.</p><p>“Hey Silver, you never told me you had a brother!” Sonic beamed at him brightly as he gestured to the terrified psychic on the ground.</p><p>“Brother?” Silver looked at Venice for a few seconds, before the meaning of Sonic’s exclamation clicked in his head. “Oh, no, we’re not brothers. We just look a bit like each other, that’s all.” He moved to hoist Venice up from the ground, his friend grasping his shoulders and refusing to let go as Silver lifted him up, whimpering softly.</p><p>Sonic chuckled. “A bit? You two are nearly identical!” Silver raised his eyebrows. He really couldn’t see what Sonic was talking about, what with Venice’s orange tuft of fluff, blue eye colour, and lighter-grey fur. Sonic meanwhile lost some of his enthusiasm and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “I… kind of thought he was you. Scared him quite badly when I popped up behind him, hehe…” Sonic moved towards the now-standing Venice, extending a hand towards him. “My apologies for that, buddy. It’s nice to meet you all the same! I’m Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!”</p><p>Silver watched as Venice gawked at the hand as if it was going to detach from Sonic’s limb and eat him, making no move to shake it. After a few seconds of awkward silence, wherein Sonic stood with his arm extended and a grin on his face that faltered just the tiniest bit and Venice just stared, Silver took matters in his own hand. “This is Venice! He’s a hedgehog, just like us. I met him in the future, and I couldn’t leave him behind there, so I took him with me!”</p><p>“Well Venice, the pleasure’s all mine!” Instead of a handshake Sonic settled on waving towards the ivory hedgehog. Rather than reacting Venice scrambled back more, appearing to be lining himself up exactly behind Silver, presumably in the hopes of getting out of Sonic’s line of sight. Silver doubted that would work.  </p><p>Turning back to Sonic, Silver saw he had raised an eyebrow. “A hedgehog, huh…” Silver saw Sonic’s gaze on Venice intensify for a few seconds, looking contemplative. Whatever the Blue Blur had in mind he did not say it though, instead dropping his hand fully and turning towards Silver. “So if you’re back so soon and with someone else, does that mean the future is still not saved? That’s really too bad, man.” He moved closer and patted Silver’s shoulder sympathetically (both ignoring the squeak that resounded from somewhere close to Silver's back), and the grey hedgehog sighed sadly.</p><p>“It’s alright. I really thought we had done it this time, but I guess not.” He grasped the handles of his backpack to squash down his anger at his incompetence, deciding that he couldn’t lay that on either Sonic or Venice. His failures to save the past were his to bear alone. Noticing the slight hint of pity in Sonic’s gaze, he cleared his throat, hoping that his anger had not been so noticeable to outsiders. “I did a lot of research this time, but I’m afraid I still don’t have a solid lead as to what happened now.” He hoped the hero wouldn’t be upset at his incompetence.</p><p>“Silver.” At Sonic’s unusually serious tone the psychic peeked at him surprisedly. Sonic smiled kindly at him, not looking bothered in the slightest. “Even with no info, now that you and Venice are here, everything’s gonna turn out just fine anyway. I can feel it.” Suddenly feeling somewhat bashful at Sonic’s kindness and misplaced faith, Silver glanced away and cleared his throat once more.</p><p>“Um, thanks.” Quickly deciding to change the topic, he waved noncommittally towards Sunset City. “Uh, can we go to HQ now? The past few weeks have been rough, and Venice is quite tired, and we both need to eat something.” He deemed it acceptable to use his friend as an excuse to get out of the conversation, and looking over his shoulder at the other’s droopy, frightened eyes showed Silver it wasn’t even a lie.</p><p>At the mention of Venice Sonic’s attention turned towards him once more, and again he had that contemplative gaze as he looked the other up and down. It made Silver feel anxious, as if there was something wrong with his friend… but there couldn’t be, right? Venice was just as healthy as him, and he had gotten quite adept at controlling his powers… so what was on Sonic’s mind? Was Sonic really that convinced that they looked almost identical? But also this time, the Blue Blur’s inspection of Venice lasted only a few seconds. Bounding a few feet away from them, Sonic grinned and gestured to his midriff. “Grab on, then! Taxi Sonic is right at your service for a one-way trip to Resistance HQ, free of charge!” Sighing at the Blue Blur’s antics, Silver quickly checked if Venice was okay with being lifted up, before raising them both in the air and lassoing his powers around Sonic as he had done before that one time at Frozen Peak.</p><p>“I’m ready!” he shouted, making sure to hold on to Venice firmly, before realising he should probably tell the trembling hedgehog what was going to happen. But before he could even open his mouth to say anything, to either Sonic or Venice, Sonic gave a salute and blasted away towards the city, and Silver heard him laugh between Venice’s terrified screams and his own fruitless attempts to calm the other down. Yeah, once they had arrived safely and Venice hadn’t died of a panic attack in the meantime, he was <em>so</em> gonna get the Blue Blur back for this.</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 9 already! Introducing the third POV from this story: none other than the Blue Blur himself! </p><p>In case anyone's confused, the weird sunlight Venice mentions around the islands of Sunset City is the sun's reflection in the lake! Venice has no idea, since he has never seen the sun before, and also has little grasp on what a reflection looks like.</p><p>Yeah, Silver's also quite self-loathy. The fact that after having travelled back multiple times in the past and changing disastrous events without any improvement weighs on him a LOT, and he blames himself for not doing it right. Of course it's not his fault in the slightest, but sometimes your mind and emotions make you think it is.</p><p>Sonic is a total gremlin but a very supportive gremlin! To me he seems like a very mischievous person, but certainly one that has a heart of gold. I don't think Silver likes the prank he pulled on them at the end though...! </p><p>The art of Silver and Venice was made by the amazing XxSilver_LeaxX, @xxsilverleaxx on tumblr! Go check her out, everybody! Just look at my hedgies, aren't they adorable?! </p><p>Next chapter's planned out but I haven't written it yet, so I don't know when it's gonna be uploaded! I am positively *drowning* in work, so it might take some time, I'm afraid... Stay tuned though!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10: Old Friends, New Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver is annoyed at Sonic's antics, Venice meets Amy, and he lets himself be roped into plans he would rather stay out of.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Venice leaned the back of his head against a wall, body trembling and breath wheezing in his chest as somewhere in the distance he heard Silver talk gentle encouragement to him between his angry yells at Sonic. The blue hedgehog had <em>flown</em> away over the path, towing Silver and Venice behind him, the three of them rushing towards Sunset City at a neck-breaking speed. Venice had been hollering in fright at the top of his lungs, hands clawing into Silver to the point he had to have hurt both of them, until they entered a large building that stood proudly in the middle of one of the islands. Once there, Silver had gently lifted him to the ground and he had promptly collapsed against the wall, where he had been recovering for some time now.</p><p>Eventually he felt stable enough to lift himself away the tiniest bit, snuggling right into Silver who was crouched at his side. Wrapping his arms around the psychic’s shoulder, Silver muttering gentle words in his ear, he was lifted to his feet. They took a few wobbly steps towards the middle of the hall they were in, Venice clutching Silver’s shoulders. Sonic stood a bit wayward, grinning sheepishly, and Venice did not miss the seething glare Silver sent at the Blue Blur. But for some reason, he didn’t share Silver’s anger. Even though he had spent most of the ride fearing for his life it had also been… kind of exciting? While the thought scared him, he couldn’t deny that he also felt… intrigued. At the very least Sonic had known what he was doing, skillfully rushing around corners and through narrow streets without causing the slightest injury to himself and his charges.</p><p>Sonic stepped a bit closer, and while Venice could feel Silver tense he himself didn’t try to hide behind the other psychic this time, instead very warily watching the blue hedgehog as he came over. “Sorry about that, I have a tendency to get carried away at times,” he explained, stopping next to Venice while clearly making sure he didn’t leave the ivory hedgehog’s sight. He gave Venice a thumbs-up, grinning widely once more. “But honestly, anyone would if they were as fast as me!” Next to him, Venice heard Silver growl, but the hedgehog’s confident exclamation… amused him? He could feel a small smile creep on his lips.</p><p>Very, very slowly, Venice released his grip on Silver, and extended one hand to Sonic as said hedgehog had done in the park. He saw how Sonic’s eyes lit up, and the hedgehog wasted no time in grabbing it, giving his hand a calm yet firm handshake. “It’s nice to meet you, Venice!” he beamed. Venice mumbled something back, not really sure what to say in return or if his voice would even work. Baby steps, he decided. But when he looked at Silver, he saw the other positively glow with pride, any earlier exasperation with Sonic completely forgotten.</p><p>Letting go of his hand and bounding away, Sonic turned towards them and bowed elaborately, his quills flying in the air at the movement. “Welcome to the headquarters of the Restoration, kept together under the watchful eye of the lovely Amy Rose!” Amy Rose, he recognised that name. Silver had mentioned her when they had first met, talking about the food she made for him and how she had given him the coat he was currently wearing. Sonic gestured for them to follow him as he walked further into the hallway. “Come on, I’ll give you a tour!”</p><p>Silver sighed in chagrin, bristling his quills the tiniest bit before they relaxed. Clearly this wasn’t going exactly how he had wanted, but he said nothing as he gently grasped Venice hand to guide him. They caught up to Sonic, who was tapping his foot impatiently at how slow they were being, and fell in line next to the blue hedgehog. Silver walked in the middle, giving Venice the opportunity to stay little bit in the back. He still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the situation. His curiosity had been prickled though, the blue hedgehog and his antics fascinating him as much as they scared him, and he knew he would be unable contain that fascination even if he tried.</p><p>“I haven’t been gone for long, but how’s everyone been?” Silver asked Sonic as they stepped through the halls. Sonic chuckled, and started a long-winded conversation with Silver about all his friends and the antics they had been up to. While Venice recognised some of the names from Silver’s earlier stories, he realised quickly that he had nothing of value to add in this conversation, and as such he tuned it out and began studying the building they were in. He was sure Silver would understand if Sonic asked about it.</p><p>The only way he could describe the Resistance headquarters was… dreary. It was quite dark inside the hall, their shadows gloomily flowing over the walls as they walked by. The main colours were a drab grey and murky brown, and the lights flickered ominously as they passed underneath them. There were some other people walking around as well, dressed the same way as the civilians who had taken away Silver earlier, but with Sonic’s brisk pace none of them had the time to start up a conversation or say anything to him, though he did get the occasional odd stare which he returned out of the corner of his eyes. Did Silver and his friends really fight a war here, for months on end with no idea if they would succeed? He felt a stab of pity go through him at the thought.  </p><p>They kept swerving through hallway after hallway, occasionally passing an open door which mainly seemed to lead to sleeping chambers or storage rooms. Venice knew for sure that if he was ever left alone here, he’d be hopelessly lost for sure, and he unconsciously gripped Silver’s hand a bit tighter. Looking up, he noticed that they had stopped walking and were currently standing in front of a door that was quite a lot bigger than all the other ones, with a yellow and black striped pattern in the middle.</p><p>“…and Amy is still busy leading the Restoration from our main hub. Speaking of which…” he heard Sonic say, as the blue hedgehog stepped in front of the door, which slid open all by itself. Venice stared at the door, amazed. How did Sonic do that? The speedster gestured for them to stay put, then leaned inside through the newly-created opening. “Hey, Ames! Look who came to visit!”</p><p>Though he couldn’t see with Sonic in the way, Venice heard a higher-pitched voice respond from within the room. “This better be important Sonic, I’m busy with- SILVER!” Rapid footsteps came closer to the entrance, then a bundle of pink came bounding out of the room, Sonic jumping out of the way gracefully as it flew at Silver while laughing. Letting go of Venice’s hand, which gave him the ability to perturbedly take a step back, Silver grabbed the pink creature and swirled her around in the hallway above his head, laughing also.</p><p>So that was Amy… she was pretty, Venice decided. Her quills were styled quite differently from his and Silver’s, and she wore a red dress compared to his black coat. The bright smile she was wearing especially made her face shine. “Hey Amy! I haven’t been gone for <em>that </em>long,” Silver teased Amy as he put her back on the ground. She puffed her cheeks in indignance, though clearly not as bothered by Silver’s words as she wanted to pretend.  </p><p>“Nonsense, it’s always good to see you!” She reached out to Silver once more, grasping him in a firm embrace which Silver eagerly returned. They let go after a few seconds. “So tell me, how was…” she trailed off, having noticed Venice standing a few feet away. He cowered a little under her gaze, but then she beamed brightly at him, bouncing over to him as well with her hand extended. “Ooh, who are you? Are you a friend of Silver’s? I’m Amy Rose, it’s nice to meet you!” Somewhat confounded by her enthusiasm, he slowly extended his own hand to Amy’s and shook hers, just as he had done with Sonic. He still didn’t trust his voice to carry him through this, so he shot a begging glance at Silver, who luckily picked up on it immediately. “This is Venice the Hedgehog, he’s my friend from the future!” Silver explained to her.</p><p>“Venice? That’s a beautiful name!” Amy laughed as she shook his hand, her grip somehow a lot stronger than Sonic’s had been. But then her eyes grew thoughtful as she looked him over. “Hedgehog, you said?” Venice stared back at her, eyes wide. Sonic had had the same reaction… But also Amy didn’t comment on it further, instead letting go of his hand and skipping back into the room she had burst out of. “It’s so good to see you! Come in, come in, just ignore the mess!” Sonic shook his head while grinning and followed her, as did Silver. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Venice followed suit.</p><p>Shuffling up to Silver, Venice listened to the whistling noise his friend produced. “Whoa, Amy, did a bomb explode here or something?” While Venice didn’t really understand what Silver meant, even he could tell how disarranged the room was. Huge stacks of paper that towered over everyone in the room were strewn about, as were crates, the occasional blue screen, and dozens of empty mugs and cups. It reminded him a little of Frozen City and the rubble and debris that had beset its ruins, though with different objects here. Amy sighed disheartedly as she made her way over to the table located in the middle.</p><p>“Things have been… kinda rough,” she said in a tiny voice, staring at no point in particular on her computer screen. “There are still many people missing after the Metal Virus debacle, and rebuilding is not going as fast as we hoped…” Venice felt compassion curse through his entire body as he looked at Amy, who somehow appeared a lot smaller than she had been when she came crashing out of the room to meet them. Glancing at Silver told him the grey hedgehog felt exactly the same.</p><p>Silver walked over to Amy and placed a gentle hand on her back, rubbing up and down soothingly. “Don’t worry Amy, Venice and I can help out a lot now that we’re here. Right, Venice?” Venice saw him look inquiringly and nodded his head firmly, pushing down the spark of doubt that was ever-present in his body. So far Sonic and Amy had been nothing but friendly to him, the Blue Blur’s prank aside, and Silver had always described them as true, selfless heroes. If he could do anything to make them and Silver feel better he would do so with no hesitation.</p><p>Amy seemed comforted by their dedication, standing the tiniest bit straighter. “That’s very sweet of you two,” she said with a smaller, wobbly smile on her face this time, “but there’s a lot that needs to be done!” She gestured aimlessly around herself. “I can’t work in this mess. I propose we start with cleaning this up first, and then focus outwards step by step.”</p><p>“That’s easy!” Silver shot up, lifting the entire mess in the room up in his powers. “Just tell me where these need to go, and I can put them there no problem!” Amy smiled fully now, immediately starting to give directions which Silver dutifully followed. Watching them, not knowing what to do with himself and as such not making any plans to get moving, Venice jumped slightly when Sonic suddenly stood next to him.</p><p>“What do you say we leave those two to do their thing and see if we can help out somewhere else?” Sonic asked, looking at him calmly. Venice felt himself freeze up, the familiar panic beginning to form at the back of his mind, but he tried to suppress it immediately. His curiosity had been piqued and was steadily getting the better of him… he wanted to learn more of this world and its people, and what better way to do so than with one of its inhabitants himself? Sonic seemed like a pretty kind guy, though mischievous, but if he wasn’t kind then surely Silver wouldn’t speak of him so highly. Yes, Venice convinced himself, he would be in safe hands with the speedster. He nodded timidly towards Sonic, getting a bright smile in return. “Great!” Turning towards Amy and Silver, who was now juggling a dozen crates with at least five stacks of paper, Sonic added: “Hey guys, Venice and I are going for a small trip. We won’t get in trouble, promise.” Although, the impish smile on his face told Venice that the Blue Blur certainly was anticipating at least <em>some </em>trouble.</p><p>At his words Silver turned towards them, distrust clear in his face. “Is that alright with <em>you</em>, Venice?” he inquired, yellow eyes drilling into Venice’s blue ones. Clearly Silver had his doubts, but Venice had already made up his mind, and declining now would definitely be scarier than just going along with it. Standing up a little straighter himself, Venice thus nodded once more. Silver kept looking at him for a few more seconds, clearly having an internal battle, before his face softened and he smiled gently, too. “Make sure Sonic doesn’t do anything stupid, okay? You have my permission to drag him back by his quills if he gets too annoying.”</p><p>“Hey!” The offended hedgehog in question stroked back his prized quills. “No-one touches these!” But Venice could see that he also was amused by Silver’s exasperated exclamation. Silver shook his head and continued with rearranging the crates, grinning at the recipient's jested displeasure. Sonic turned back to him once more, reaching out with his hand balled in a fist and very softly bumping it in his upper arm. “Alright then, Ven! Time to rock and roll!” Venice swallowed, earlier confidence deflating quickly. What had he gotten himself into?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>New chapter time! This was meant to be like, twice as long, but when I read this I found out I already had over 2000 words and thus I decided to upload this part already. This is *heavily* rewritten, I originally had Venice be much less confident, but he deserves to be more curious about the world! He's had plenty of good experiences with Silver, and now also with Sonic and Amy. Also sorry for making Amy kinda negative, but you're not gonna tell me that a 12-year-old who had to fight in a war with the love of her life presumed death, then had to run a global organisation to resurrect the world and THEN had to deal with a Zombot epidemic is not the tiniest bit beaten down by everything. Luckily Silver and Venice are here to help!</p><p>Also, we hit 10 chapters! What a milestone! I have no idea when the next chapter will be uploaded though... stay tuned!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11: Uncomfortable Revelations and Stressful Situations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sonic tries to learn more about Venice, tackles some sensitive subjects quite tastelessly, and should probably have paid better attention.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sonic briskly jogged around the area that Sunset City was located in, gripping Venice’s legs tightly as he carried the other around on his back.  Leaving the HQ had been easy enough, he had been chatting cheerfully as he bounded across the halls and listened to Venice’s hums in response to his babbles. As they reached the streets outside Sonic had blasted away at his usual pace, but it soon became clear that Venice had no hopes of keeping up with him, puffing and panting only minutes into the exertion. Realising they wouldn’t get far that way, Sonic had offered to give Venice a piggyback ride, which the other accepted with a doubtful look on his face. But no complaints had passed his lips as Sonic hoisted him up, making sure to flatten his quills so he wouldn’t hurt him.</p><p>As Sonic trotted over the paths, he could feel Venice bury his face firmly into the top of his head, clutching his arms around the speedster like his life depended on it. Sonic had to quietly laugh at that; he was going at a fraction of his normal speed, not worried about Venice’s reaction as much as fearing Silver’s wrath if he were to find out Sonic had pulled the same prank on his new friend twice. Luckily, Venice hadn’t been yelling like the first time he had come into contact with Sonic’s speediness, and occasionally he even lifted his head slightly to take a peek at the surroundings they passed. Sonic considered it a huge development.</p><p>He had been running around for some time now, seeing no people in need that could be aided. They could probably take it slow for a moment and find somewhere where they could chat. Gazing around, he saw a nice spot at the edge of the lake, sheltered by some trees and shrubs, to put Venice down. He really wanted to talk to Silver’s friend, to learn more about him and his story. Most of all he hoped he would get an explanation as to why the two looked so alike. That couldn’t just be simple coincidence, right? Maybe he could study Venice a bit more closely too, without Silver breathing down his neck. There were quite some things he wanted to get to the bottom of.</p><p>Lifting Venice of his back and putting him down, Sonic had to laugh out loud this time as the psychic’s legs gave away under him instantly and he collapsed backwards on his bum, leering at the Blue Blur in a betrayed manner. Throwing himself down to the ground as well, Sonic grinned and laid down comfortably on his back, gazing lazily at the clouds that drifted by. Silence prevailed for a few seconds, in which he waited for Venice to say something, but realising that the other kept quiet he took the initiative himself.</p><p>“So, Venice.” The recipient of his statement glanced at him, clearly on guard. He didn’t seem as frightened as before though, so Sonic continued. “I was wondering, how did you and Silver meet?” After a few seconds Venice mumbled some things in response, from which Sonic could make out that Silver had found him somewhere in the ruins of the future and had taken care of him since. Humming in affirmation, Sonic thought over what Venice told him. There were quite a few gaps in the story: how had Venice survived in the future, and were his similarities to Silver merely happenstance? Clearly Venice was withholding at least a part of his full tale. Though looking at the youth next to him, who was fiddling nervously with his gloves and coat, Sonic accepted that he wouldn’t get the answers he desired. He could always ask Silver later, he supposed.</p><p>Settling in the comfortable calm that followed, Sonic gazed up at the clouds. If he squinted he could make out some chilidogs in one, and another looked like a Chaos Emerald… he smiled at the childish activity. Wanting to ask Venice if he knew how to cloudgaze, he saw that the other was watching him intently. When he turned around his head to look back inquiringly, Venice averted his gaze instantly, nervousness fully back in his posture. Sonic rolled over on his side. “What’s up?”</p><p>“’m…” The nervous fiddling with gloves continued relentlessly. Sonic waited patiently for Venice to find the words he was looking for. He had learned long ago that in situations like these it was best to take it slow. Eventually those words came out in a very tiny voice. “M-may I… ask you s-something?”</p><p>The innocent question and the frightened manner with which it was asked made Sonic smile dolefully. It reminded him of Tails the first time he had met him on South Island, and how years of being bullied and tormented had made the fox cub skittish and fearful. Just what had happened to Venice to make him so scared? Sonic made sure to make his response sound peppy, hoping it would ease the psychic’s fright a little. “Sure, what’s on your mind?” he inquired.</p><p>Venice kept silent for some time, his face scrounged up. When he answered every word was delivered strenuously and with great effort, as if he had practiced them over and over in his head. “W-when we met… and with Amy… you were staring at- staring at me, and I-I wondered…” Sonic waited for him to finish, not wanting to rush the other and accidentally make the situation worse, though his actual question sent another pang through his already pitying heart. “Is there something… <em>wrong</em>… with me?”</p><p>With Venice staring intently at the ground, Sonic allowed himself to pull a face at the stupidity he had displayed while back. He should have known that Venice would catch up on his staring, with all negative consequences that could come from it. Well, he owned Venice an honest answer now, if only to alleviate his fears.</p><p> Chewing on the inside of his mouth he looked the other over once more. Silver had proclaimed him a hedgehog, presumably due to their physical resemblance, but Sonic could see quite a few features on him that no anthropomorphic hedgehog possessed. Venice did not have the usual spiky ears and short tail, instead sporting rounded tips at the former and the latter being much longer and thicker than any hedgehog would have. He was built a lot slimmer too, missing the broad shoulders that Sonic, Shadow, and Silver all owned. Most notably he lacked the quills on his back, though Sonic knew that it was possible to have those removed. Amy had done it a few years ago, citing as reason that they kept getting in the way. Sonic had rolled his eyes at that, though he knew better than to say anything. But if Venice had lived his entire life in a ruined future, it would be near-impossible for him to get them removed or just lose them like that. On the other hand, the quills on his head that gave him his similarities to Silver did not lie. Was Venice perhaps a hybrid? Or was he some other species that Sonic never heard of before, but then why did Amy have the exact same reaction when she first laid her eyes on him?</p><p>Mulling over how to tackle the subject, Sonic went over his options. He could explain to Venice that, while it was possible for two different species of anthros to mate and have children, these children would exclusively be one species or the other with no mixing of different species-specific traits… but he doubted the other would understand much of it. Sonic himself wasn’t too confident in his knowledge on genetics either, so he shot that idea down immediately. While the second idea was a lot more unorthodox, he considered giving that one a shot instead.</p><p>Picking himself off the ground and gesturing for Venice to do the same, he said: “Can you do something for me?” At Venice’s surprised look he quickly added: “I’ll answer in a minute, I just want to test something.” With Venice standing fully as well, Sonic gestured at himself. “Can you try copying this move?” He curled into a spiky ball, a hallmark of every hedgehog. Even Silver had been able to do it flawlessly, despite living his entire life in a ruined city and having little knowledge on Spin Dashes and Homing Attacks. Tails had explained that being able to curl up into a ball was ingrained in a hedgehog’s DNA. If Sonic wanted to see if Venice really was a hedgehog, this was certainly a good way to test it.</p><p>Uncurling so he could see what would happen, Sonic watched Venice intently. The other had frozen up, clearly thinking hard about how to proceed. Bending over forward, he awkwardly squatted on his haunches as he wrapped his arms around his knees and tried to put his head between his legs at the same time. Sonic chuckled as Venice leaned forward too much and promptly toppled over, flailing his arms as he flopped gracelessly on his side. To Sonic’s surprise Venice was undeterred, scrambling up immediately to try it once more. His second attempt ended in much the same way, though this time he managed to catch himself with one hand. With his third try he managed to achieve something that could vaguely be recognised as a ball, if its spectator had a very warped idea of what a ball looked like.</p><p>His troubles had told Sonic enough, he started to become convinced more by the second that Venice was not a pure-bred hedgehog. Maybe he really was a hybrid between a hedgehog and some other species, no matter how impossible that was supposed to be. Maybe Tails had some way to look into that? Walking over to Venice, he made sure to praise him extensively. “You did great!”</p><p>Though his kind words had been truthful, Venice clearly didn’t believe him. “No, I didn’t,” he sighed in response, gracelessly uncurling and flopping on the ground. Sending a sullen look in Sonic’s direction, he continued. “You said you’d explain.”</p><p>“Yes.” Settling himself comfortably on the grass once more, Sonic glanced at the lake. “Silver says you’re a hedgehog, right?” Venice hummed. “Well, some parts of you don’t really… <em>look</em> like those of an anthropomorphic hedgehog, but then some parts of you do. Also, hedgehogs are able to curl up into a ball with no problem, like I just did. But to you it doesn’t come naturally.” It had been a statement, not a question, but Sonic was relieved to see Venice nodding morosely. “It just felt off…” the psychic muttered, staring at his gloves.</p><p>They sat quietly for some time, Sonic watching some willows in the distance that hung over the waterside, the waves lapping at their sagging branches, as he waited for Venice to process the information. “But if I’m not a hedgehog… then what am I?” the psychic blurted out unexpectedly.</p><p>“I don’t have an answer for that yet, but I know some people who might be able to help. I’ll ask them when we’re back at HQ.” Seeing Venice hunch into himself a bit more, Sonic quickly rushed to comfort him. “You’re happy and healthy, right? Trust me, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just a bit different from others, and there’s nothing bad about that. We all are, no-one’s the same.” His attempts at encouragement fell on deaf ears, Venice nodding evasively as he refused to look Sonic in the eye. Sonic hoped Silver would do a better job at making him feel better.  </p><p>The psychic scrambled up, still looking very dour. “Let’s just go back,” he mumbled, walking away before abruptly stopping. Helplessness wracked his face, and Sonic quickly shot up so he could lead the way. He reached out to Venice as he passed in hopes of comforting him, but with how the other flinched away from his hand he deemed it unwise. It was probably best if they went back to HQ and let Silver tackle this.</p><p>Glancing over his shoulder once to see if his charge was there, Sonic set off towards the city at a moderate pace, a rarity for him. He was pretty sure Venice wouldn’t appreciate it if he had to go on another high-speed trip. Sensing from the mood that the psychic had no desire to talk about anything, Sonic mind hit overdrive instead. That went way worse than he had hoped… And he hadn’t even been able to tackle the possibility of Venice being a hybrid. Hopefully the more empathic Amy or the smarter Tails were better able to explain sensitive subjects like this.</p><p>Lost in thought, Sonic suddenly jolted when he realised something was <em>off</em>. Glancing behind him once again, he gasped when he saw the empty field stretch out from his view. Venice was gone! How long had he been mulling?! Any attempts to keep himself calm evaporated instantly when he saw where Venice had sauntered off to. Instead of following him, the psychic had clambered <em>into</em> the willows and was now peeking into the lake, intrigued by its shimmering waves. <em>Oh, no</em>… Knowing full well he had no means to save Venice if he fell down into the water, he released he had to act quickly to get him down from there.</p><p>Rushing over in less than a second, Sonic stopped at the base of the tree, just far enough from the lake so the small waves wouldn’t touch his shoes. “Hey Venice, water-you doin’? I thought we were gonna make like a tree and leave!” His puns did nothing to calm his nerves, no matter how much he wanted them to. Venice didn’t even seem to pick up on them, turning one ear towards Sonic while he let a hand trail over the surface of the lake. His gaze was filled with wonder and his mouth was open in a small O-shape.  </p><p>“It’s so pretty from up here…” he whispered, sounding utterly mesmerised. While Sonic would usually encourage people to look more into the beauty of the world, right now he was a bit too busy with trying to find a way to get Venice down without either of them drowning. While Venice wasn’t too high up due to the branch curving down under his weight, it extended quite a few meters over the water. Even though Sonic could easily climb to the part of the tree where the psychic was perched, they would both fall down from there if anything unexpected were to happen. He wasn’t even sure if the branch was able to carry their combined weights in the first place. Sonic dared throw a glance at the lake and gulped at the grey void it presented to him. It looked quite deep… he didn’t want to fall into that for sure.</p><p>Calling out to Venice a few more times, he eventually caught the psychic’s full attention. “Listen, Ven, I know the water looks very nice from there, but maybe you can… come down? On solid ground?” At the odd look Venice sent him Sonic knew that he didn’t come across even half as confident as he had tried to make himself sound, but his image was less important to him right now than the desire to get both of them out of there safely.</p><p>“…Kay,” Venice responded, clumsily turning around on the branch so he could scoot back. Body tense and hands clenched into fists, Sonic waited with bated breath for Venice to move away from the lake. For a second it seemed like Venice would be able to crawl back safely, but then…</p><p>“Watch out!” Sonic cried out as Venice’s foot slipped from the branch due to his movement and he plunged into the lake with a yowl. Clambering up onto the tree branch, fear of water momentarily forgotten, Sonic yelled out Venice’s name. His eyes passed frantically over the water surface, only seeing some rippling waves and bubbles. <em>Where is he?! </em></p><p>Sonic hissed as he was covered with a spray of water droplets as Venice broke the surface, gasping and coughing. He awkwardly floundered in the water, with his arms lurching and legs kicking, and the water got extra disturbed due to the continuous jolts of psychic energy that the startled swimmer was sending out. To Sonic’s great relief he seemed adept enough at keeping himself above the surface though, as clumsy as his swimming style was. But the speedster knew he had to get him out of there quickly.</p><p>“Venice! Swim over to the shore!” Sonic called out to him, reaching down a hand to guide him. He managed to grab the hem of the coat, which he used to awkwardly pull Venice across the length of the tree branch towards the shore. He couldn’t tell if he helped or hindered the other, but at least Venice hadn’t gone underwater again. With some issues he managed to get him close enough for the psychic to be able stand on the bottom of the lake, and for Sonic to pull him out fully. With both of them safely returned to actual solid land Sonic quickly turned his attention to making sure Venice was uninjured.</p><p>“What were you <em>thinking</em>?!” Sonic asked tensely as he rubbed Venice’s back, the other having swallowed some water and now hacking his lungs out. “S-s-sorry… I didn’t… I didn’t <em>know</em>…” Venice managed to stutter out between coughs, trembling. Sonic couldn’t determine if it was from the cold or from fear. He shushed gently and stroked the other’s quills to let him know he wasn’t mad.</p><p>“It’s alright, you’re alright,” he mumbled over and over into the other’s ears, until Venice had calmed down enough to stop his coughing and rapid breathing. Sonic grimaced as he looked the psychic over, seeing how his wet pelt was pressed against his shivering body. His quills had turned quite droopy too, and there was not much left of the initial poofiness of his orange tuft of fur. While Amy’s coat and the gloves had survived the worst of it, his black shoes looked quite ruined. Chaos, what would Silver say?</p><p>Deciding to go over that conundrum later, Sonic turned his attention to Venice once again. “Uh, you need to warm up,” he realised, having little idea what to do when someone had nearly drowned and was now presumably close to hypothermia. Should he take off the wet coat or leave it on? What was he supposed to do? <em>First get him as dry as possible</em>, he thought.</p><p>“Okay Ven, you need to do this.” Sonic pressed his arms against his body and hunched over, Venice copying his movements. “And now <em>shake!</em>” Sonic swiftly shook his head and his torso, only to yell out when Venice accidentally splashed him with water once again. Sonic swore he could hear the tiniest giggle sound from next to him, Venice looking unexpectedly amused at his reaction, though Sonic couldn’t blame him. The speedster grinned bashfully. Yeah, he probably deserved that.</p><p>“I’m still not dry…” Venice murmured as he stopped his rapid shaking and looked at himself, his now-poofy fur still damp. With his newfound fluffiness from shaking himself out he looked quite silly, and despite the circumstances Sonic had to laugh.</p><p>“We better get you inside then, don’t want you catching a cold.”</p><p>“I’m already cold…”</p><p>The slightly accusatory tone only served to make Sonic more amused, and he shot Venice his trademark grin as he turned his back to the other and gestured towards himself. “Hop on then, I’ll get us back to HQ in no time!” With slight hesitation Venice jumped up on his back, Sonic reflexively hooking his arms under the other’s knees. Suppressing his agony at the cold and water that instantly began seeping into his quills (he deserved that too, he sighed inwardly), he quickly checked if Venice was comfortable and then shot off, back towards the Restoration headquarters and Silver, who would probably be none the happier when they returned.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I live! This chapter gave me STRUGGLES, I'm not gonna lie. But I do like what it eventually became. Luckily I have a better idea what I want for the next chapter!</p><p>I think most of you will agree that Sonic... didn't really go through this with as much sense as he could have, but while he can be a very insightful character his one-track mind and occasional inability to take things seriously will probably result in bad situations turning worse, like here. Venice knows very well that there are some things that make him different from others, and he fears that it will be used to hurt him like it has before. Hopefully Silver will be able to calm his nerves, and nothing bad will happen to him in later chapters :)</p><p>As for the whole hybrid stuff, my headcanon is as it's described in the chapter. We've never seen a mixed-species anthro, in not a single medium (as far as I'm aware at least), so this is how I imagine that's caused. I saw the original headcanon somewhere on Tumblr, though I can't remember where. The Tumblr post further went into that not every species could breed (e.g. an insect and a mammal could not), but I feared it would become too technical here and as such I left it out. </p><p>For some reason I'm not fully charmed by how this is written and especially not its ending, but I don't feel like changing it lol<br/>I don't know when I'll be back with a new chapter, but so far this is coming along nicely! Have a great day everyone!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12: A New Look</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Silver is a mother hen, Sonic nearly gets murdered by a vengeful psychic with anger issues and everyone encourages Venice to pick out some new shoes.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!?”</p><p>Venice smiled sheepishly as Silver rushed at him the moment he and Sonic entered the Restoration HQ again, the light grey hedgehog presumably having laid in wait for them to arrive. Despite Sonic going as fast as he could with his easily-startled charge, it had still taken a while for them to get back, and Venice felt chilled to the bone. His friend grasped him by the shoulders, running his hands through his quills and turning him left and right, glancing him over with an astounded look on his face. “You’re all wet, and you’re <em>freezing</em>! SONIC!”</p><p>With Silver’s ire shifting towards him, Sonic wasted no time in saving himself for the time being, blasting away with a “I’ll-go-grab-a-towel-be-right-back!” He disappeared through the hallway before either of them could even blink. Staring after him, mouth wide open, Silver clearly didn’t know what to make of the situation. Managing to shake himself out of his stupor, he turned to Venice once more. “Are you <em>hurt?</em>” he asked, worry and concern palpable in his voice. Venice simply shook his head in return, before burying it in Silver’s much warmer shoulder. Despite not being gone for long he had missed his lookalike terribly. Silver wrapped his arms around him and rocked him gently as he had done so many times before.</p><p>After a few seconds Silver very carefully flicked his ear. “We can’t stay in the hall like this, we should go back to our main hub,” he explained when Venice glanced up, displeased. He knew Silver was right, this was the main entrance and they were probably getting in the way. Looking over Silver’s shoulder he also noticed there were some people giving them <em>very</em> intrigued looks, no doubt alerted by Silver’s hollering. Quickly stepping away from the hedgehog he nodded tensely.</p><p>Silver grabbed his hand and pulled him deeper into the base, just like the first time he had come here. Unfortunately his friend seemed convinced that making him run would help him warm up somehow, and he entered the communication room with aching legs and short of breath. Well, at least he felt sort of warmer now… slightly.</p><p>Between his wheezing Venice piped up his ears at the sound of footsteps coming back. His attention turned towards Sonic, who came rushing at them with Amy in tow. The pink hedgehog had probably been alerted by Silver’s ruckus and got filled in by Sonic. Stopping next to him, she looked him over quizzically. “Oh, dear,” she sighed as her eyes met… her coat! He had ruined her coat! He froze up entirely, a tremble that was not at all related to the cold making its way up his spine. But she didn’t appear mad when she gently unbuttoned it and pulled it over his arms, uncaringly throwing it in a corner of the room. “Let’s get you all dry first,” she told him as she grabbed a towel from Sonic’s hands and wrapped it where the coat had been. Sonic put another one around his head, and Silver grabbed a third one and put it around his midriff.</p><p>Getting dried off felt quite nice, a lot nicer than Venice would have thought. It certainly helped that they weren’t in the freezing ruins of the future, where Silver had given him a bath shortly after their first meeting. That had been extremely cold and thoroughly unpleasant. This felt a <em>lot </em>better, he thought as he leaned fully into Silver and mushed his forehead into him, his antics making the others laugh. He thought he could feel something building up in his throat, that made his chest feel warm and his body relaxed, though he had no idea what it could be. It had happened before, when he had fought and made up with Silver in Frozen City, but just like that time nothing came of it. With three people he was dried off a lot quicker than he would have liked, and the feeling disappeared soon after.</p><p>Wrapping him in an unused towel (it seemed like Sonic had taken every single piece of cloth available in the base with him, presumably as a peace offering), Silver gently lifted him up and placed him on one of the crates pushed against the wall. “Here, take off your gloves and shoes, those are wet too” the psychic hedgehog told him. Venice obeyed, pulling away the now-familiar fabric around his hands and kicking off his shoes with his heels. Silver wrapped another towel around his lower legs and bundled him up further in his cosy cocoon of fabrics. Sitting down next to him, he pulled Venice partially in his lap and began to run his fingers through his quills and tuft of fur, painstakingly going past every spine and strand of hair. “Just checking if you really didn’t get injured,” he explained at Venice’s quizzical look.</p><p>“Don’t stress so much, Silv. He’s fine!” Sonic laughed from where he was standing with Amy, typing away on their blue screens. Silver’s glare could have incinerated a lesser man on the spot, but Sonic was undeterred, turning his attention to Venice instead. “Right, Ven?”</p><p>“…Think so,” he mumbled in response, glancing away and missing how easy it was to fiddle with his gloves instead of the short fur on his hands. He ran his fingers over his teal-coloured marks, soothed by how he could pull the power around through his palm.</p><p>Silver groused something, which Venice couldn’t fully make out. He could have sworn it included the words “could have died” and “reckless idiot”, though. He nuzzled into Silver a bit further;  he had not meant to worry his friend so. “You haven’t even told me what happened yet,” the psychic sighed as his fingers continued his massage. “Please tell me you got hit by a very local rain event and you didn’t, like, actually fall in the lake or something.”</p><p>“…I fell in the lake.”</p><p>“<strong>SONIC</strong>!”</p><p>The contrast between Silver very gently lifting him out of his lap to place him to the side before jumping down from the crate and storming at the Blue Blur couldn’t have been greater. As he witnessed how the psychic chased after Sonic while hollering about how he said they wouldn’t get into trouble and how the speedster stayed <em>just</em> out of reach while explaining how he Only Lost Track Of Venice For A Second I Swear, Venice felt the feeling in his chest build up once more. It was not exactly the same as the first time, this was lighter and bubblier. His face had broken out in the widest grin, which he couldn’t suppress how matter how much he tried. As he watched the scene unfold his giggles began to flow out of him uncontrollably.</p><p>Amy, who was busy yelling at the two male hedgehogs to not even <em>think</em> about destroying anything, was the first to notice. She stared at him surprised, but then a smile broke through on her own face and she joined in. Her laugh turned out to be immensely contagious, and his amusement only increased in strength as she shared the hilarity of the moment with him. Silver, who had successfully driven Sonic in a corner and was now advancing threateningly, whirled around at the noise they were making. He didn’t even notice that Sonic used his distraction to quickly escape, instead staring at Venice in astonishment.</p><p>“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you laugh, Ven!” he called out joyously, earlier anger at the Blue Blur forgotten entirely. Calming himself down enough to stop giggling, Venice quickly snuggled deeper into the towels and shut his mouth. Was it really? He knew he had smiled before, tiny grins and even tinier beams on rare occasions, and only a very small giggle once or twice. He couldn’t remember if he had ever laughed out loud like that. He had never had a reason to, but now… He was warm, he was surrounded by kindness, and he was safe. He nodded shyly towards his friend.</p><p>Sonic scrambled up on the crates as well, strategically placing himself next to Venice so that the latter could function as a living shield in case the need arrived. “It’s a nice laugh, I think it suits you,” he chuckled. Bashfully, Venice wriggled down further into the towels still. Silver made his way over as well, sitting next to Venice on the other side and wrapping an arm around him. The wide smile he was wearing brought Venice’s smile back full force, and he leaned into his friend once more.</p><p>From the corner of his eye he saw Sonic stare critically at his shoes, which laid abandoned where he had kicked them off. They had been absolutely threadbare already, the days spent in Frozen City and his swimming trip only making their condition worse. They would probably break soon, but Venice didn’t mind. It was warm here, he could just walk around barefoot. Besides, he had worn those at the facility; the sooner they got out of his life, along with all the memories they carried, the better.</p><p>“Would you like new shoes, Venice?” Sonic asked him unexpectedly, and both him and Silver looked up at the question. Silver glanced at them as well, a frown on his face. “They’re indeed quite damaged,” he noted as he picked them up with his powers and twirled them around before his face. “It’s probably wise if you got a new pair.”</p><p>Venice snuggled deeper into his cocoon and Silver. “I can walk around barefoot, it’s no problem,” he retorted as he glared at his shoes, which mockingly floated in front of him. The idea that he could just take them off had never occurred to him, but now that they were he was never going to put them on again.</p><p>Silver clearly wasn’t convinced. “You’ll hurt your feet if they’re not protected,” he told Venice as he dropped the shoes again and turned towards him fully. “And they’ll get dirty, or really cold, or you might burn yourself when walking on something hot…” That did sound quite unpleasant, Venice mused as his ears flicked from the icky thoughts. Maybe it wouldn’t be so threatening if the shoes didn’t look like his old ones?</p><p>Amy, who had listened in on their conversation, piped up. “The Restoration gets donations from many people in the city and beyond,” she stated, walking over. “We have tons of new clothes and shoes. Maybe we can see if there’s something in there for your liking?”</p><p>Doubtfully looking at Silver, Venice was encouraged when his friend seemed enthusiastic about it. “We’ll find you something great, Ven! You’ll look amazing!” He supposed that settled it. Venice tried to lift himself off the crates, but had to be rescued from his towel cocoon first by Silver. He pulled a face at the loss of warmth, and Silver petted his quills sympathetically.</p><p>“That particular storage room is quite crowded,” Amy pondered. “It’s best if only one of us and Venice go there, there’s just not enough space for all four.”</p><p>Sonic dropped himself from the crate he was sitting on. “That’s alright. I wanted to discuss some things with Tails anyway, so I’ll be off.” He winked at Venice. “You’ll have to do without my amazing sense of style, sorry!” He laughed as Amy gently butted her fist in his shoulder, rolling her eyes at his statement. “You wouldn’t know style if it danced on top of your nose!” she scolded him, but she was laughing also.</p><p>“I don’t really know anything about clothes, so I’ll probably be little help,” Silver said as he helped Venice get down from the crate. “I think it’s best you and Amy do this.” Venice felt a small jolt of alarm go through him. His time with Sonic had ended unexpectedly unpleasant, but… it had also been fun. And it wasn’t even Sonic’s fault that things got awry in the first place, that had been fully on him. Besides, Amy seemed to be a lot more level-headed than the blue speedster, and she probably wouldn’t let him wander off or get lost. He nodded timidly. “Okay.”</p><p>“Is that alright, Ven?” Silver inquired. “After what happened today,” he shot another glare at Sonic, though this one certainly contained a lot less animosity and more humour, “I understand if you want to take it easy.”</p><p>“’s Okay,” Venice mumbled in return. He hadn’t died, he was safe now, Sonic turned out to be actually pretty okay, Amy was sweet and very responsible, Silver was still in the building, and everything would turn out alright for sure. “It’s gonna be fine,” he assured the psychic (and himself) with a bit more certainty.</p><p>Silver chuckled and ruffled his quills, and Amy came over and gently grasped his hand. “It’s you and me, then!”</p><p>Sonic made his way over to the door, waving at them. “Bye, everyone! You’ll see me again soon!” he called out as it slid open. Silver waved at him in return, and Venice tentatively copied the movement. “Say hi to Tails for us!” Amy told him, to which Sonic responded with a thumbs up. And then he was gone, leaving behind a closing door and a gust of wind which nearly scattered all Amy’s papers, were it not for the fact that Silver had grabbed them with his powers instantly.</p><p>“He always does this,” the psychic lamented as he laid them down again in order. He turned towards Venice. “I’ll be throwing these away,” he lifted the shoes, and Venice nodded firmly in return, “and I’ll put your coat and gloves in the wash, and then I’ll go to the kitchen and wait for you so we can eat. You go pick out something good-looking with Amy.”</p><p>“Alright.” Venice let Silver ruffle his quills once again, and watched as he picked up the clothing from where it had been abandoned on the ground. He made his way to the door as well, and waved one final time at Venice and Amy before it closed behind him and he disappeared from view. Venice was left with the pink hedgehog, who squeezed his hand gently. He suppressed the spark of anxiety that roamed around in his chest. No turning back now. </p><p>“Storage is this way!” she sung as she led him out of the door and through the hallways. Silver had been right, Venice learned as he walked around on the floors of the hall. It was indeed quite cold, and there were small rocks and splinters poking in his soles as they progressed. He suddenly realised that if he knew how to fly like his friend, he could lift himself up and soar through the hallways no problem. But how in the world could he pull that off? Using his telekinesis on normal objects was difficult enough already. Besides, using his powers tended to make him feel sick to his stomach, and if he tore open another one of those purple portals…! No, he couldn’t trust himself to use his powers properly without the more experienced Silver around. Walking would have to do for now.</p><p>On the way he and Amy made some small talk. “You really like Silver, don’t you?” she asked as they passed under flickering lights. Venice nodded. “He saved my life, and he’s just so nice…” he mumbled. He owed Silver a lot, but how could he ever make things up to his friend? He had nothing to give, and no skills to be of any help. Silver had promised he’d take care of him, but why would he if there was no reason to? He sighed sadly.</p><p>Amy must have noticed his unexpectedly sombre mood, because she squeezed his hand once again. “Silver loves to hang out with you too, I can tell,” she assured him. At least that was something, Venice supposed. They stopped in front of a door that was the same as every other door they had walked by. Regardless, Amy opened it with confidence. “We’re here,” she said cheerfully, letting go of his hand as she entered and he followed her inside.</p><p>The storage room was indeed quite crowded, just like Amy had predicted. Hundreds of boxes rose up against the wall, tucked away on shelves. In the middle of the room more shelves were placed, though these contained both boxes and bags with clothing. The hallway formed between the racks was so narrow only one person could fit there at a time. A floor-length mirror was located to the right of the door, illuminated by one of the flickering lamps the entire Restoration headquarters was plagued with.</p><p>“We received many more donations than we expected, so it became quite the tight fit,” Amy chatted as she glanced over the boxes on the wall. “These two,” she gestured at the shelf to the left of the entrance and the one in the back of the room, “contain all the shoes.” She gazed at his bare feet for a second. “Say, what do you want them to look like anyway?”</p><p>Venice had not been expecting the question, and he really hadn’t put any thought into it yet. He knew instantly that they couldn’t be solid black and reach only to his ankles, like his old shoes. He would never wear anything like those again. He mulled over the three other pairs he had come to known. Sonic and Amy both wore bright red, and while he liked the colour in itself he doubted it would look good on him. He liked Silver’s boots the best by far. “Can… can they be like Silver’s?” he asked softly.</p><p>Amy laughed sweetly at his naïve inquiry. “I can’t guarantee that they’ll be exactly the same, but I got some options that you can try.” She walked over to the first rack and began to pull a handful of the boxes down. “Go look at the other shelf and see if there’s any on them that you like! The boxes have pictures on them,” she called out over her shoulder. Going the opposite way as to not have to squeeze himself past the pink hedgehog, he reached the shelf in question and glanced over the hundreds of boxes it contained. Venice gulped.</p><p>His eyes had only trailed over a dozen pictures or so, none really appealing to him, before Amy materialised next to him with a whole stack of boxes in her arms. As the pink hedgehog pulled out all the boots and showed them to him, his heart sank when he had to decline each and every pair. None of them caught his interest; they were all too bold or too brightly coloured or too bland or too short or solid black. Luckily Amy was undeterred, putting away the rejected boxes as quickly as she could carry back new ones. “We’ll find the perfect shoes for you,” she assured him. “You’ll have to wear them for a long time, so make sure to pick only the pair that you feel one hundred percent sure about.”</p><p>Even with her encouragement, Venice began to feel more dejected as time went on and he still had found nothing. Taking a small break to put away the sizeable pile of boxes that had accumulated on the floor, Amy was humming to herself from next to the other shelf. He looked over the rack in the back of the room once more. Amy had also gone over that one, and there were huge holes where she had pulled out multitudes of now-rejected options.  </p><p>Venice sighed, even with his extra inspection he still saw nothing that called out on him. But then his eyes fell on a box that was tucked away entirely in the top corner, against one of the walls. It must have been too high for Amy to see and reach, but he was slightly taller. Deciding that he might as well check that one out, if only to humour himself, Venice reached up to get it. He hissed when he couldn’t reach it, his fingertips stayed inches away from the box even when he stood on the tips of his toes and jumped up a little. Had he finally found something he was the slightest bit interested in, he was trumped by his height!</p><p>An unbidden idea to get the box down crossed his mind, and he grasped his hands with the shimmering symbols tightly when he thought of it. Glancing over to Amy, who was still distracted with ordering the other boxes, he took a very shaky breath. Maybe… His training with Silver had gone quite well the past few times, and it was just a single small box… That wasn’t <em>too </em>risky… right?</p><p>Taking a very deep breath to steady himself, as Silver had instructed him once, he focused his mind and powers on the box and willed it to fall down. He lifted up his hand and shrouded the box in the psychic power, and celebrated very softly on the inside when it didn’t ricochet off the shelf immediately. Pulling his hand back, he tugged the box along with the movement. It didn’t move as much as he had wanted to, and for a second it teetered on the edge of the shelf before it came tumbling down. He quickly caught it in his hands before it could hit the ground, breathing a sigh of relief when he clutched it to his chest. It had worked!</p><p>“Ooh, what did you find?” Amy’s voice next to him made him jump, and he whirled around to stare at her beaming face. How much had she seen?! But Amy didn’t comment on anything as she lifted the lid and whooped when she saw the contents of the box. “Hey, I think you’ll like these!”</p><p>Venice looked them over too. The box contained boots, with a light grey tip and white soles and heels. The main body was dark grey, and they both had two golden buckles and light grey cuffs with a red decoration. He also saw there were two bracelets that were similarly-styled to the cuffs tucked between them, presumably for his hands. For the first time since he entered the storage, Venice felt something remotely resembling enthusiasm as he pulled the shoes out of the box.</p><p>Reaching out to one of the shelves in the middle, Amy handed him a pair of pure white socks. “Here, put these on first, otherwise the boots will chafe,” he was instructed. Awkwarldy balancing on one foot and slipping the white fabric over the other (it was quite similar to a glove, he thought to himself with a tiny smile), he took one boot in his hand and studied it. Putting it on his right foot, the other went on his left. Amy gently took his wrists and put the bracelets around them, fastening them with a click.</p><p>“You look great!” the pink hedgehog assured him as she looked him over. “Here, check them out!” Grasping his hand and pulling him over some of the boxes she hadn’t put away yet, she took him to the mirror in the room. Placing him right in front of it, she patted his shoulder before making her way back to the massacre in the path that still needed to be cleaned, leaving him and his reflection alone.  </p><p>With Amy gone from the mirror Venice took the time to extensively study himself, starting from the top of his quills to the tips of his shoes. He looked a bit taller now, what with the large white heels under the boots. His orange tuft of fur had become quite a bit more poofy after getting dried off, and the quills on his head spiked up extensively, instead of smoothly clumping together like usual. Silver’s preening had probably pushed them all out of bound. He tried to smoothen them with one hand, but to no avail. Every time he pushed them down they jumped again. Sighing, he decided to just leave them be for now.</p><p>Venice twiddled with the grey bracelets as he turned his attention to the reflection of the boots. They looked good on him, he decided. The darker grey colour went well with his ivory fur, and he liked how the cuffs and the tips of the boots were the same shade of lighter grey. He could even forgive that they were so close to being coloured black. The red decoration in the front looked similar to Silver’s red gem, and his boots had the golden touches his friend’s had too. He still looked like Silver, he probably always would, but he also looked like… himself. The revelation brought a sense of relief over him that he couldn’t describe. His reflection told him he was smiling, a bright smile that was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.</p><p>“Do you like them?” Amy asked as she made her way back to him, having put away the last few boxes in their place. Feeling surprisingly choked up, a lump in his throat making it difficult to talk, Venice nodded. “I do.”</p><p>Taking in himself for a few minutes more, Amy quietly rummaging behind him, he eventually tore his eyes away from the mirror and towards the pink hedgehog. At his tiny nod she smiled, taking his hand and leading him out of the storage room. Venice walked behind her, excitement brimming in his chest. He couldn’t wait to show Silver his new look.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Another chapter! I really like this one myself, but boy did it get long! (And I had more planned, but that has been moved to chapter 13~) </p><p>The description of Venice getting dried off was brought to you by my dog, who for some reason also always mashed her head against us when we dried her after giving her a bath. I have no idea what the idea behind that was. but it was very cute!</p><p>Venice's shoes are the same as in his concept art, but I changed the bracelets a little. In his concept art he has the same golden bracelets with a teal line as Silver, but I wanted them to look a little bit different, so I made Venice's bracelets similar to the cuffs of his boots. He's still wearing white gloves with the teal symbol on them, though.</p><p>I already wrote a significant scene of chapter 13, so that one will be coming soon!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13: Hybrid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The entirety of the Restoration turns out to be pretty bad hosts and Venice learns more than he bargained for.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Silver sighed as he rubbed his temples, feeling inexplicably anxious. He knew Venice would be fine with Amy, unlike <em>some other people </em>she’d never let him out of her sight or nearly drown in a lake, but he couldn’t help but worry. Venice was startled so easily, and he had problems with controlling his power… Shaking his head firmly Silver decided to have faith in his friend. He had grown a lot since their first meeting, becoming more confident and outgoing with every day. His relapses into the shy, terrified teen he was before were becoming less and less. He’d be fine.</p><p>As he waited for Amy and Venice to come back to the kitchen of the HQ, he used his powers to fiddle with a salt shaker to entertain himself. Throwing away Venice’s torn shoes and putting his coat and gloves in the wash had taken minutes at best, and he had been sitting here ever since, making the tiny object bop up and down through the air. They were taking a lot longer than he had expected, though, and his stomach rumbled. He didn’t really know what he was allowed to take from the fridge and cupboards, especially not after some incidents that had taken place during the war. He wanted to eat together with his friends anyway, it was more convivial like that.</p><p>A giggle behind the door to the hallway caught his attention, and he carefully put down the floating item before turning towards it. It creaked open very slightly and Amy slipped through the tiny gap, closing it behind her immediately. He raised an eyebrow at her odd performance.</p><p>“Close your eyes,” was the only thing she said as she turned towards the door once again, putting her hand on the handle. Covering his eyes with his hands and closing them for good measure, he heard Amy giggle again and some shuffles towards him that had to be Venice’s. At Amy’s giddy “Alright!” he opened them again, and he jumped up while grinning when he saw Venice stand in front of him, with shiny grey boots and fitting bracelets.</p><p>“Ooh! You look good, Ven!” Silver complimented his lookalike as he twirled around him to view him from every angle. The boots were structured quite similarly to his, but also had some key differences. Just like how he and Venice were so similar yet also different in their overall appearance. Amy had done a good job, they fitted Venice perfectly. “They look like mine!” he joyfully noted.</p><p>Venice looked at his gloveless hands he was fiddling with, though Silver could hear from his tone of voice he was happy also. “That’s why I picked them,” Venice explained timidly as he peeked at Silver from the corner of his eye. “Do you… think they look good?” Dropping himself in front of Venice and ruffling his quills, Silver laughed. “They look great! It’s an honour,” he assured the ivory psychic.</p><p>During Silver’s inspection Amy had made her way further into the kitchen and was now hectically collecting plates, mugs and cutlery. “I just realised we didn’t even offer you two anything to eat! You must be starving! I’ll make you something, what would you like?”</p><p>Picking up everything she was carrying with his powers, Silver easily put each thing in its place on the table surface, dropping the much-abused salt shaker in the middle as he inconspicuously brushed away some kernels from the table. “I have no preference myself, but do you have anything you want to eat, Ven?” Both he and Amy laughed as Venice bashfully mumbled that he liked Amy’s soup, blushing furiously as he played with his fingers and stared at his boots. “One portion of soup for each, coming up! Go sit down, I’ll handle this.” Grabbing all the required ingredients and pans, Amy went to work.</p><p>Pulling out a chair for Venice to sit on and returning to his own seat, Silver made some small talk with both his friends as they waited for Amy to finish cooking. It didn’t take long for the kitchen to be filled with the smell of fresh bread and boiling soup, and Silver could feel his stomach rumble more intensely and his mouth water. “I like cooking as well, but I once nearly set the kitchen on fire and now I’m not allowed to touch anything without supervision,” he disclosed to Venice with an exaggerated eyeroll, making the other psychic giggle.</p><p>“It was a disaster!” Amy teased as she walked over to them, her hands covered in pretty red oven mitts as she carried a huge pot of soup. “Everything was seared black, there was chaos everywhere, and it took weeks for us to get out the smell!” Shaking his head at the silly memories, one of the very few happier moments in the War to Take Back the Planet, Silver grabbed the bread from the counter and used his powers to give all three of them a piece and a sizeable helping of soup.</p><p>They had barely begun to eat before a knock sounded on the door. “I smell food!” Sonic hollered as he burst in, licking his lips at the meal on the table he was presented with. Both Silver and Venice jolted at the clamour. Tails, who had been following him, rolled his eyes. “What a way to enter, Sonic. You’re setting a great example here,” he sighed as he made his way over to Amy to give her a hug, before turning to Silver. “Hey, Silver!” he laughed, and Silver stood up and reached out to ruffle his bangs.</p><p>“Tails! How have you been?” The genius shrugged in response. “Just the usual; inventing things, drawing blueprints, making sure Sonic doesn’t do anything stupid…” He stuck out his tongue at his brother and quickly darted behind Silver as Sonic puffed up his quills and sent him a mock-angry glare. Turning his attention to Venice, who was staring at his bowl and appeared to be pretending he didn’t actually exist (it backfired badly), Tails cheerfully greeted him as well. “You’re Silver’s friend Venice, right? It’s a pleasure to meet you!”</p><p>“…Hello,” Venice mumbled as he glanced at Tails, shrunken into half his normal size. With how startled he was by Sonic’s entrance, Tails’ unexpected appearance on top of that probably made him very insecure. “He’s shy,” Silver mouthed towards Tails, but the fox cub didn’t appear surprised. Sonic probably had given him an extensive briefing on Venice already.</p><p>Silver and Amy quickly pulled out more bowls and spoons, and within seconds Tails and Sonic had joined them at the table. Between all the small talk and conversations Venice had gone quite quiet, discreetly shifting closer to Silver as he stared at the food he was eating with great consideration. Silver figured that with three other people, one of which he had never met before, he had to be feeling quite overwhelmed. Sometimes Sonic or Tails would pointedly look at Venice between their chatting, but every time Silver shook his head slightly. Venice would warm up to Tails soon enough, they just had to give him time to get out of his shell more.</p><p>Dinner was finished much too soon for his liking, even after both he and Venice got a second serving from Amy. But it had been very tasty and filling, and even the timid psychic looked slightly more relaxed as he pushed his chair away from the table and wriggled his ears. Silver laughed at how drowsy his face was, his eyelids drooping and a yawn badly suppressed. Standing up, Silver let him lean against his torso.</p><p>“How about you lot go to the living room and catch up with each other?” Amy suggested as she watched the scene in front of her unfold, a smile on her face. “Then Venice can rest and you three can chat. I need to go back to the hub, there’s paperwork waiting for me.”</p><p>With Silver, Sonic and Tails all voicing their agreements, Venice only flicking an ear at the mention of his name, they all got up from their chairs. With Sonic’s help the dirty dishes and leftovers were put away in seconds, and Silver wrapped an arm around Venice to guide him and keep him up. Saying their goodbyes to Amy, who darted back to her domain in the HQ, the interesting crowd went the opposite way to the living room.</p><p>------</p><p>Yawning, Venice curled up further into himself, pulling his knees against his chest and snuggling closer against Silver’s leg. Although Silver’s original plan had been to make him walk, his body had been limp and his legs had simply refused to carry his weight, and he had been hoisted up on the other’s back and carried here. His friend had put him down on a very soft surface and covered him fully with a blanket, then had sat next to him. Venice gladly used the opportunity for cuddles, softly whining until Silver’s hand found its way under the blanket to his head and he could sigh from contentment instead. He had never laid on such comfortable furniture in his life, made only better by Silver’s fingers that were steadily scratching behind a rounded ear. His breathing slowing, Venice felt himself drift away further still. The odd feeling was back in his chest, and this time it came out as very tiny vibrations from his throat.</p><p>“Ven’s fallen asleep,” he heard Silver murmur very far in the distance. “We won’t wake him up if we talk softly.” The words didn’t really make sense to him, but it didn’t matter all the same. He was safe. The sudden introduction to the fox cub had surprised him and he hadn’t known how to deal with so many people at once, especially with how noisy and chatty they had been. Luckily they had all left him alone, and Silver had been with him throughout it all. He could sleep peacefully here, with his friend right next to him.</p><p>“Actually, Silver…” He recognised Sonic’s voice, sounding much more grave and serious than usual. That did grab Venice’s attention, and he blearily opened an eye and pricked his other ear. It wasn’t entirely dark underneath the blanket, he could make out some of its patterns. There probably was a light on in the room. “There’s something about Venice that we would like to discuss with you.”</p><p>“Sure, what’s on your mind?”</p><p>“Sonic told me some interesting things he noticed while spending time with him.” That voice was Tails’, he recognised it because it sounded a lot younger than those of the two hedgehogs. “To get straight to the point, he thinks Venice isn’t a hedgehog, but a hybrid. Now that I’ve seen him for myself, I’m inclined to agree.”</p><p>The scratching of his ear stopped, but Venice couldn’t bring himself to care about it, fully awake now. The conversation had certainly piqued his interest. Sonic had discussed this with him before, at the edge of the lake. Venice already knew he wasn’t a hedgehog, Sonic said so because he couldn’t curl into a ball. At the time he had been scared and antsy, mostly because of Sonic’s weird, jumbled explanation and the fact he landed on his face twice and then nearly blew out his back to humour the Blue Blur. If it meant he didn’t have to curl into a ball, he didn’t mind he wasn’t a hedgehog in the slightest. What kind of species was a hybrid? The word sounded funny, but also gnawed at the back of his mind as if he had heard it before.</p><p>“But that’s not supposed to be possible,” he heard Silver say. Venice frowned at the statement. Why was a hybrid not possible? With how many people there were in this era there were probably dozens of them around every corner. “You guys told me that it was inconceivable for two different species to form a hybrid child. They’d always have either the traits of one or the other, not a mixture.” He could feel Silver go rigid as well, his legs shifting to press closer against him. “Venice looks a lot like me, so he <em>has</em> to be a hedgehog! He’s got quills!”</p><p>“But he had quite some physical differences that no hedgehog possesses,” Sonic argued back. Making himself as flat as possible, Venice didn’t dare breathe out of fear of missing something. His intrigue quickly shifted into apprehension. Why were they being so weird about him being a hybrid? Was a hybrid something different than just another species of anthros? “He doesn’t have any quills on his back, and his ears and tail are entirely different from ours! Surely you have noticed that?”</p><p>“I have, but…”</p><p>Tails intervened before Silver could finish his sentence. “Even if Venice is a hybrid it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with him,” Venice heard him speak in an calm yet assuring tone, though even if it worked for Silver it did nothing to assure him. “But the fact that it is possible for a hybrid to exist naturally is very intriguing. Do you know anything about where he’s from?”</p><p>The scratching behind his ear picked up once more, but Venice found it did not give him the pleasure like it used to only minutes before. Body frozen, startled to his core by the unexpected turn of the conversation, he waited for what Silver had to say.</p><p>“Venice… comes from a different dimension,” the other psychic started. “He lived in a science facility, where they ran tests on him. Mostly because of his powers, he said.” Although he couldn’t see Sonic and Tails, he heard them hum as they listened. “Um, he didn’t really tell me what they did to him, but based on how skittish he is I can come up with some scenarios. One time he just… snapped, I guess, and tore open a portal through the dimensional matrix. He ended up in the future, where I found him. He’s stayed with me ever since.”</p><p>“Poor Venice,” he heard Tails whisper. The hand behind his ear moved to rest and stroke over the two quills on the back of his head. “He’s safe now,” Silver assured his companions. “Ven is frightened too, but I won’t let anything happen to him.”</p><p>Sonic, who had been surprisingly quiet during Silver’s explanation, spoke up. “Do you think that he was somehow artificially created?” Venice had no idea what that meant, other than that it sounded scary yet painfully familiar. With Silver’s words about his past he had found himself back inside his prior place of torture in his mind, and he fought to suppress his trembles to not show Silver he was awake and eavesdropping. His power nearly jolted out of his palms, and he squeezed his hands together in fists so tightly he feared he would break his fingers.</p><p>“Shadow is a hybrid between a hedgehog and an alien species, and he was artificially created as well. In a science facility, too. It could certainly be a possibility,” Tails agreed. “Do you remember anything else he told you, Silver?”</p><p>“Uh, not really… Nothing that could help us find out more about his species, at least.” After a few seconds of silence, wherein Venice stared intently at his knees and fought to contain the power inside him that was haphazardly buzzing throughout his body, his friend added: “Actually, that’s not true. When I asked him, he said his name was PK-HMH.”</p><p>Silence followed after those words, though Venice didn’t know if it was because nothing more was said in the conversation or because his ears were ringing too much for him to hear. Silver’s hand moved from where they had been laying on the back of his head to his ear again, and he tried to focus all his attention on the feeling to ground himself. “Do you have any idea what it could stand for?” Tails piped up unexpectedly, and Venice nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected noise.</p><p>“Well, PK is usually used to refer to psychokinesis,” his friend responded. “That makes sense, since Venice has the same powers as me. But what the HMH stands for, I have no idea.” Venice didn’t know either, no-one had ever explained it to him. He had wanted to forget his former name entirely. He was Venice now, not a science experiment referred to only as “it” and with an abbreviation, which had gone awry, which had <em>murdered</em>-</p><p>Through digging his nails painfully in his wrist he brought himself back to the present, heart pounding in his chest. Venice heard some shifting from across where he was laying, and listened to Sonic’s hum. “I was wondering, Tails… Is it perhaps possible if you do a DNA test or somethin’? So we’ll get a better idea what kind of hybrid he is?” What were they talking about now?</p><p>Tails chuckled in response to the hedgehog’s inquiry. “<em>I</em> won’t be doing that, but I can take some samples of his cells and send them to a bigger lab a few cities over for testing. They have a database on all kinds of genomes from hundreds of species, so they’ll be able to tell exactly where his genetics differ from you and Silver.” Venice had completely lost track of the conversation, having no idea what in the world DNA or genomes were. Still, Tails had said the words with such confidence that it probably was very common knowledge for him. He seemed like the kind of person who knew what he was talking about.</p><p>“That won’t hurt him though, right?” Silver inquired worriedly. Venice felt him securely push his hand closer against his head. Despite the situation he had found himself in, he felt the slightest bit comforted at his friend’s protectiveness.</p><p>“It’s a very non-invasive process,” the genius fox assured Silver and their eavesdropper. “It won’t cause him pain in the slightest.” That was somewhat relieving to hear, at least. But still, the conversation they had had about him and the memories it brought back had frightened him to the very depths of his being, and the anxiety that had steadily become less over the days had returned full force. With his arm wrapped around his legs Venice tried to make himself as small as possible.</p><p>“I propose we go to bed. With Venice sleeping-“ he suppressed a sigh of relief at not being discovered, not that it made him feel any better, “-we won’t be finding out much today anyway.” He heard creaking and feet shuffling on the floor. “Where are you going to rest, Silver?”</p><p>His friend pulled away his hand and very carefully stood up as well. “I don’t want to move Venice, he might wake up. I’ll sleep here with him,” Silver responded to Sonic’s question. After some rummaging Venice could feel his weight return to the furniture, Silver’s head next to his. He listened to Sonic and Tails walk away as the three friends whispered goodnights to each other, and with a click the light was switched off and he was shrouded in darkness.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 13, that's the unlucky number! It's true for Venice, who certainly finds himself in a pickle here! This is why you don't listen in on conversations about yourself, you'll only learn things that hurt you. </p><p>As for Venice's confusion, keep in mind that he has basically no world experience, and everything that he knows he learned from Silver. Since Silver can be quite simple-minded and not think about things critically, it influences how Venice thinks about things as well. And yes, Venice still feels very conflicted about his escape from the facility. On the one hand he is horrified with himself, but on the other hand he feels like his tormenters deserved it. </p><p>Today's chapter and a part of the next one are brought to you by my highschool biology knowledge from years ago. Finally a place to implement it, my teachers would be proud! If this is in any way feasible (or even true), I have no idea. On the other hand, this franchise is about supersonic blue hedgehogs fighting egg-shaped doctors, so I feel like we have a lot of leeway there when it comes to shady science business. </p><p>The next chapter is actually already finished! I'll probably upload it soon. Until then!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14: The Beauty of the World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver and Venice have a midnight heart-to-heart, discover the world is more beautiful than either of them could imagine, and run into trouble.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Watching the patterns on the inside of the blanket he way laying under, Venice’s mind reeled. His hands couldn’t stop trembling, and he hardly registered how his nails painfully dug in his palm. Despite his shivers he laid as still as possible, to not be caught. He didn’t really know what he was hiding from. The only thing that kept him and the power from spiralling were Silver’s deep breaths next to his ear.</p><p>Eventually the silence and questions became too much for him to handle, and he very carefully lifted up a corner of the blanket to peek out under it. With the small whisps of light in the room that leaked out from Silver’s symbols he could make out a few more pieces of furniture, though everything was tinted in either teal or greys. He wouldn’t have been able to name them even if he tried.</p><p>Shifting his gaze towards Silver, he witnessed how his friend was sleeping peacefully, his nose twitching as he dreamt. Usually Venice would let him rest, even if he was scared, but now there was too much going on in his head to even consider the possibility to wait until morning. Creeping the tiniest bit closer, he lifted a trembling finger and poked Silver in his forehead. “Silver,” he hurriedly whispered, feeling slightly miffed despite everything when his friend did not react other than a small frown and another nose-twitch. Poking him a bit more fiercely he called out for him again. “Wake up!”</p><p>“Hmm?” Blearily blinking open his eyes, Silver’s gaze settled on him. The fact that Silver was awake and alert the moment their eyes met was probably a testament to how upset he looked. “Venice, are you alright?” his friend asked worriedly as he sat up and pulled Venice closer. His chest became tighter and his lips began to tremble as he buried his face in Silver’s white tuft of fur, the bottled-up sobs forcing their way out of his mouth before he could do anything to stop them.</p><p>His hands grasping at Silver’s back, he wailed as Silver pulled him taut against his own body and began to rock him left and right, whispering gentle words against his forehead. One of Silver’s hands found its way behind his ear again and started to scratch once more, and eventually his cries of anguish were steadily replaced by those weird vibrations from his throat. Using his own hand to wipe at his wet eyes and nose, breathing still hitching, he leaned his head up a little so he could look at Silver.</p><p>“You’re safe, you’re safe,” his friend murmured over and over, and the vibrations from his chest harmonised with the phrase until they were in unison. Eventually he felt calm enough to pull away some more, Silver pressing his lips against his forehead in an odd gesture before pulling the discarded blanket over them and laying both of them down. “Did you have a nightmare, Ven?” he asked as the psychic snuggled closer to his friend.</p><p>Venice shook his head at that, he hadn’t gotten a single second of sleep this night. Despite that, he felt wide awake. “Hmm… was it… bad memories?” That was a bit closer, but still not what was on his mind the most right now. He gave a half-shrug in response, and Silver laughed. “Then I don’t know, I’m afraid. Could you tell me?”</p><p>Silver waited patiently for him to find the words, but Venice began to feel more anxious as the minutes passed and he still had no idea how to begin. What if Silver got really angry when he found out he had been listening in on him, Sonic and Tails talking? Everything he wanted to talk about had originated in that conversation. How to bring it up without letting his friend know he had been eavesdropping? Eventually his mind went entirely blank, and he couldn’t think anymore. “W-what’s a hybrid?” he blurted out unexpectedly, before clasping a hand over his mouth. He had given himself away!</p><p>His companion looked surprised as well. “Uh, well, a hybrid is…” But then he stopped talking and his gaze turned much more alert, and he looked Venice right in the eye as the timid psychic cowered. “How do you know that word, Ven? Did you hear me talking with Sonic and Tails about that?”</p><p>That was the final straw for Venice, and with another cry he buried himself into Silver again as he shuddered in fright. “I’m s-sorry… D-don’t h-hurt me…!”</p><p>“Oh, geez…. Hey, hey!” Silver sounded quite caught off-guard as Venice both tried to nuzzle into him and push him away. “I won’t hurt you,” he soothed, “I promised I’d take care of you. Remember?” He pulled Venice closer again, despite his cry of protest. Going fully limp, Venice nodded against Silver’s chest as he wailed and the words tumbled out of his mouth, explaining to Silver how he had heard them talking and how scared he was. Even with Silver’s hands behind his ears, both of them this time, it took considerably longer for him to calm down enough to be able to form more than fragmented sentences.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” the psychic apologised as he rubbed away some tears that had gathered on Venice’s cheeks with his thumb. Venice tipped his head at that, throat sore and nose clogged. Why was Silver sorry when <em>he </em>was the one who did something wrong? “I thought you were sleeping. I wouldn’t have talked with Sonic and Tails like that if I knew you were listening too, especially not if we’d scare you so much.”</p><p>“s’ Okay.” Venice didn’t really follow Silver’s line of reasoning, but his friend was looking quite guilty. He gave Silver’s cheek a tentative nuzzle to show he forgave him, making him smile.</p><p>Laying down more comfortably, the smile evaporated again and Silver groaned. “Aw man, what a situation.” His fingers returned to Venice’s ear once again, and with them the vibrations came back. Silver laughed at the face Venice pulled when he couldn’t suppress them. They weren’t bothersome, per se, but they did feel weird. “You’re purring,” Silver explained as he pressed his fingers in deeper and the noise intensified with them, along with the displeased face Venice pulled at it. “You can’t control it, it happens when you feel happy and safe.”</p><p><em>Did </em>he feel happy and safe? Venice didn’t have an answer to that, but he knew he didn’t feel <em>unsafe</em>, at least. Settling partially on Silver’s chest, he buried his face in the other’s shoulder and sighed. He just felt very confused right now. “I guess I owe you a lot of explanation,” Silver murmured gently next to his head. Pricking his ears, Venice listened intently.</p><p>“So, you know that there are lots of different species of anthros, right? You have hedgehogs, and foxes, and cats, and chameleons… hundreds of them,” Silver began, and Venice nodded timidly. “Geez, I’m not really an expert, bear with me… Uh, Tails told me once that, while many different species are able to have children together, they’ll always have all the traits of only one species, not both.” Sitting up a little bit straighter, Venice laughed at the concentrated face Silver was pulling. He felt very relieved that his friends also didn’t know what was going on with him. “A hybrid would be a person that does have traits of both, and apparently you have that and they all noticed.”</p><p>“We do have some differences…” he murmured softly, flicking his rounded ears. “When Sonic and I were at the lake, he said I wasn’t a hedgehog because I couldn’t curl into a ball.” At the incredulous look Silver sent him a tiny giggle unearthed itself. “No, really!”</p><p>Silver rolled his eyes. “If <em>that’s</em> what we’re basing this on…” he groused, though Venice could tell that he also was amused. Venice snuggled up against him, relief coursing through his body in waves. Silver wasn’t mad at him, and they were both in the same boat of confusion. It wasn’t just him. “Tomorrow Tails is gonna look into your DNA… uh, those are the building blocks of bodies, but they’re so small that you can’t see them, and there are some differences in them between people and species… and then we’re going to find out what type of anthros you are. I’m still sure you’re at least partially a hedgehog, though.” </p><p>Venice still had no idea what DNA was, but Tails had said that it wouldn’t hurt him. Silver seemed to trust the fox cub, so he would too. “Thank you,” he whispered as he bashfully crawled further under the blanket.</p><p>“You’re very welcome,” Silver assured him. “Do you feel better? Do you think you can go to sleep now?” With Silver’s question Venice froze for a second, before a huge yawn split his mouth open. Silver chuckled and wrapped an arm around him, and they both snuggled into each other. Before he knew it, Venice had drifted away and sleep overtook his mind.</p><p>-----</p><p>The process was indeed as painless and non-invasive as Tails had promised it would be. He showed Silver and Venice some cotton swaps, which he dragged first over the inside of Silver’s cheek and then Venice’s. “The results will take a few days,” he told them as he put the swabs away in their individual plastic container and labelled them with a pen. “I’ll bring them to the lab this afternoon, they’ll analyse them there. I’ll let you know what they find the moment I hear from them.”</p><p>With that he was gone, and Silver watched Venice pull a face as he moved his cheeks around. It had felt a little bit weird, but Venice had taken it like a champ. Silver stroked his quills and assured him he was proud of him.</p><p>“What do you want to do, Ven?” he asked as he peeked out of the window. They had slept in after their talk during the night, and the sun was shining proudly in the sky. Silver basked in the warmth of the rays, closing one eye in pleasure. Venice joined him where he sat, fiddling with his gloveless hands. With his other eye Silver glanced at the movement, before something crossed his mind. “Oh, that reminds me! Wait here!” Not feeling like getting up and walking, the rays of the sun making him drowsy, Silver focused his energy on himself. With a zip and a rush, he found himself in the laundry room, where he quickly grabbed Venice’s coat and gloves. It was probably too warm to wear anything, but Venice would feel safer with them. Focusing his energy once more, he teleported back to the living room, the whole procedure taking seconds at best.</p><p>“I almost forgot these, here you go!” he cheerfully said as he reached out Venice’s clothing to him, only to stop and tip his head when the other was staring at him with his mouth wide open. “W-what… was <em>that</em>?” Venice asked breathlessly.</p><p>For a second Silver had to wrack his brain to figure out what he was so surprised about, before he realised. “Oh! Have I never told you I can teleport?”</p><p>“<em>No</em>?”</p><p>At the other’s unbelieving tone Silver laughed. “I can do it with my PK,” he explained as he quickly teleported to behind the couch, laughing at the wide-eyed look the other gave him when he disappeared and rematerialized a fraction of a second later. Venice seemed utterly mind-blown, scampering up and pulling a face of great concentration as he held his hands out in front of him. Silver could tell that he was trying to teleport as well, but nothing happened as his frown deepened and his hands tightened into fists.</p><p>Teleporting back and sympathetically rubbing his shoulder, Silver gently undid the painful hold Venice had on his own hands. “I was just able to do it one day,” he told the other. “I got attacked, and then… Zip! I was suddenly somewhere entirely else. It was really weird, let me tell you.”</p><p>“Do you think I’ll be able to teleport one day?” Venice asked him, whipping his head around to look him in the eye. Usually he was quite reserved when it came to his powers, but he seemed very enthusiastic about this particular one. Unfortunately for him Silver instantly deemed it too risky to start practicing, what with Venice’s inexperience with the more basic parts of his psychokinesis still. “When you master your telekinesis more, I’ll teach you,” he promised the psychic. “But you have to promise you’ll work hard on getting better at lifting objects first.”</p><p>Venice pouted, but he didn’t go against Silver, instead murmuring out a soft “Okay,” as he looked away. Silver frowned. Venice had never gone against his wishes, but he had always been too scared to do anything with his powers. This certainly seemed different. “Venice.” Placing his hand under Venice’s chin, he made the other look right in his eyes. “Do you <em>promise </em>you won’t try without me around? Teleporting is very dangerous, and there’s way too much that can go wrong. You could get hurt very badly.” He hoped he didn’t scare the other, but he also had to be very clear here. He wouldn’t forgive himself if Venice got hurt or killed because he hadn’t been firm enough.</p><p>Holding his gaze this time, Venice nodded resolutely. “I promise,” he assured Silver. Silver ruffled his quills as they looked out of the window once again. “Can we… go outside? It looks very nice out,” Venice asked him shyly. Silver squeezed his hand as he took it and led them to the door. “I’d love to.”</p><p>-----</p><p>“I want to learn how to fly.”</p><p>“Hm?” Silver turned towards Venice at his statement. They had long left the city behind now, strolling over beat-down dirt roads that criss-crossed throughout a multitude of grasslands. They nibbled on the lunch Amy had prepared for them and passed small forests, canals, hedgerows and fields filled with flowers. While they day had been lovely already it had only become more beautiful as they made their way out of the HQ. The sun shone brightly in the blue sky as fluffy white clouds gently floated through the air, in no rush whatsoever. The branches and leaves of the trees and hedges swayed gently in the breeze, as did the grass and blossoms in the pastures. On the horizon they could see wind turbines, rotating steadily. Silver hadn’t felt so filled with peace and contentment in a long time.</p><p>Venice rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he stared at the scenery. “It’s just… it seems like a useful skill to have.” The wind played with his fur as he stared longingly at a leaf that came drifting past on the gentle gale. “Could you please teach me?”</p><p>Silver loved to fly, loved to have the feeling of the wind rush past him as he soared through the air, freed from any of the constraints of the ground. Flying certainly was a lot safer and easier than teleporting, not to mention less difficult to learn. “Of course. Trust me, it’s exhilarating.”</p><p>Looking around for a good spot for practice, his eyes settled on a field nearby that was filled to the brim with long, golden grass, rustling gently as the wind pulled at their blades. Yes, that would do nicely. He gestured for Venice to follow him, then jumped off the path they had been following as he made his way over to the middle of the field. His own flight training had been a struggle: he had lost count of the times he nearly ricochet into a pool of lava or the jaws of a monster hungry for an easy snack. But he had never given up, practicing for hours on end to push himself past his limits and perfect this gift of his blessing as well, and it had paid off.  Although, for Venice’s training he would gladly make use of the more peaceful and beneficial circumstances they had found themselves in.</p><p>Having reached the centre of the field, he turned towards Venice once more. The other seemed to be nervous, but he also had that spark of excitement in his eyes Silver had learned to recognise. He thought for a second about how to best continue; his own powers had been developed so far that he could pull of most feats entirely subconsciously.</p><p>“Okay, what you want to do is think about what it feels like to grab an object, and then basically just do that on yourself. I’d recommend you aim for your torso most.” Venice nodded, his face attentive as his hands started glowing. Silver could see him wrap the teal power around his midriff, face scrunched up in concentration. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then Venice jerked his hands up and thrusted himself off the ground, shooting his body a few feet in the air with much more gusto than had been necessary while yelling all the way. His surprise caused him to lose his focus, and with the lack of psychokinesis to keep him up he came down again near-instantly. Grabbing him with his own powers before he could crash Silver lowered him on the ground carefully. He winced, glad he had chosen a place with enough cushioning around. This probably wouldn’t be the last time he needed to help out, he mused as he made his way over to the other.</p><p>“That was a really good first attempt!” Silver encouraged him as he pulled the other off the ground with his hands underneath his armpits, quickly checking him for injuries and sighing relievedly as he found none. Venice groaned.</p><p>“Is this going to happen a lot?” the psychic-in-training disgruntledly muttered, leaning into Silver’s chest with the back of his head and staring into the air as if it had personally wronged him. Silver chuckled at his annoyance.</p><p>“Unfortunately, yes.” He laughed more at the displeased glare the other shot his way out of the corner of his eyes, before gently picking him up fully with his own powers and placing him a few feet away. “Now, do you want to try again?”</p><p>-----</p><p>As with most of his psychokinetic powers, Venice had picked up on this one with surprising ease as well. After what couldn’t have been more than an hour of practice, he could already make himself come off the ground fully and hover above it indefinitely. He still had issues with making himself go the correct way in the air though, often flinging himself backwards by accident. He also hadn’t dared to fly more than two, three feet above the ground, clearly still affected by the results of his very first attempt.</p><p>“Maybe we should call it a day for now,” Silver suggested as he hovered next to his friend in a cross-legged position. While he figured Venice would be tired from all the practice, the other shook his head.</p><p>“There’s one more thing I want to do,” came the reply. Uncrossing his legs, Silver stretched out lavishly in the air, basking a little in the sunrays as he had also done this morning.</p><p>“And what’s that?” he inquired.</p><p>“I want to see how high I can get up in the air.” The unusual request caught him by surprise, and he blinked at Venice confusedly as the other stared back, appearing a bit bashful. Venice rushed to explain. “I just want to see what the world looks like from up high, is all. I think it would be very pretty.”</p><p>Silver, himself an appreciator of the small and unusual things, smiled at the innocent explanation. “Let’s go, then. Don’t worry about falling, I’ll be right next to you to catch you.”</p><p>“I know,” Venice replied, a small smile on his face as well. He took a deep breath, before focusing once more and blasting off upwards, Silver making sure to stay right behind him. The world quickly turned smaller below them as they rose higher and higher, the fields and forests becoming mere patches and the canals and hedgerows simple lines as they ascended in the air. Despite not being a stranger to beautiful views, especially in his beloved past, Silver felt his mouth fall open at this one. While they couldn’t see it with the forests in the way on the ground, in the air they discovered that the trees and bushes had hidden the best views of the city, which was now displayed to them in all its glory. The islands and their buildings stretched out across the horizon, with the red bridge proudly displayed in the middle of the lake between them, and hills and mountains magnificently rose up behind. The setting sun bathed everything in a golden glow, its light reflecting in the architecture they witnessed, and the lake looked like it had been formed with liquid gold. Sunset City truly had been aptly named, and Silver swore it was among the most beautiful things he had seen in his life. Venice, who was hovering beside him, said nothing as he moved to discreetly wipe his eyes with his hands. Silver could tell the other was crying, though he didn’t remark on it as he pulled the psychic closer towards him, wrapping his arm around this shoulder as he let their heads rest against each other. He did not need any words from Venice to understand.</p><p>-----</p><p>They had stayed in the air like that for what felt like hours, watching the colours of the city change as the sun ever so slowly dropped underneath the horizon as it coated the wind turbines in gold as well, before they themselves gently descended to the ground once more. Now they were walking back towards the city, Venice still feeling as awestruck as he had been in the sky. It had been magnificent, and he felt humbled to his core.</p><p>With the sun quickly disappearing now the air became more chilly, and he was glad he had his coat with him. It had been quite warm during the day, but he now could snuggle in it freely to warm up his chilly cheeks. Running his tongue over the inside of his mouth he tried to push the memory of Tails and his little cloth on a stick to the back of his head. He’d hear about that days from now, no use in worrying about it in the moment.</p><p>Silver, who had been walking next to him in peaceful quiet, suddenly stopped as he put a hand in front of Venice’s chest. Peeking past him, Venice saw a familiar blue streak rush towards their general direction through the hills at supersonic speed. Sonic skidded to a halt next to them, the gust of wind nearly knocking Venice over. “Hey guys! I had wondered where you two wandered off to,” the Blue Blur greeted them warmly.</p><p>“Walking around and practicing powers,” Silver shrugged. “What are you doing here, Sonic?”</p><p>“Ames detected some signals from an Eggman battle fleet making its way to the city,” Sonic grinned, stretching out his legs. “They’re in the forest now, but they’re advancing. I got sent out to take care of it, no biggie.” Venice deemed him way too casual and excited about that news. He knew who Eggman was, Silver had told him about the madman and his plans to take over the world. Suddenly feeling quite fearful, earlier awe forgotten entirely, he reached over to Silver and grabbed his arm. Silver placed his other hand on his and gave it a squeeze. They both knew that the news didn’t spell out anything good for the inhabitants of this era for sure.</p><p>The other psychic appeared much more serious than Sonic. “It might be best if I went with you then, just in case,” he proclaimed firmly, with no room for argument.</p><p>“You’d be welcome to!” Sonic gave them a thumbs-up in response, but Venice squeaked and grabbed Silver tighter. “You’ll get hurt!” he whimpered.</p><p>Surprised at his reaction, Silver took him in a hug. “I’m a very skilled fighter, I know what I’m doing,” he soothed Venice. “You can go back to Amy and the Restoration and wait there, I’ll be fine.”</p><p>Sonic looked as if he had suddenly realised something. “We might not have enough time to bring Venice back to HQ and then make our way to the battle,” he mused, before his gaze brightened up. “Why don’t you come as well, Ven? It’ll be a great learning experience!”</p><p>“<em>What</em>?! No way!” Silver retorted before Venice even had the chance to say something similar. His friend pulled him against his chest more protectively. “Against <em>Eggman?</em> He’ll get hurt for sure!”</p><p>“I never said he had to participate,” Sonic rushed to explain as he held his hands up in a peace gesture. “We can just go there, have him hide and stay away from the action, and when we’ve won we’ll all go back to HQ together. We can’t send him there alone right now.”</p><p>Venice knew Sonic raised a good point, as much as he didn’t want him to. Even if he could make his way back to the city, he had no idea how to find the HQ in particular, and with dusk making place for night it would be even more difficult and scary. He swallowed thickly, legs feeling quite trembly. “I’ll come.”</p><p>Silver looked as if he had a thousand-and-one more things to say, but he stopped himself and instead nodded tensely. Lifting Venice up in his arms, he wrapped his psychic lasso around Sonic at his command and they blasted off like they had when the ivory psychic first met the speedster. Burying his face in Silver’s shoulder and closing his eyes so firmly it made them tear up, Venice prayed it would be over soon. How he missed solid ground under his feet in moments like these.</p><p>The trip hadn’t been long at all, but the sun set so quickly it was dark in minutes. Sonic was forced to slow down as they entered the forest, and Silver released his hold on him, to Venice’s great relief. It was darker here still, and the creepy atmosphere made him shiver.</p><p>“Over there!” Sonic whispered as they saw hundreds of tiny pricks of lights spring up in the darkness, and a mechanical whirring reached their ears. The three ducked away in the undergrowth, Venice squeezed in between Sonic and Silver. They looked out over a clearing, where dozens of robots were gathered, and more were making their way through the forest opposite of them. Some of the robots were three or four times the size of the others. On the one hand they looked quite silly, but on the other hand they had something menacing. While the tiny ones did not seem to be armed, the larger monstrosities were carrying electric whips which whirred as sparks flew off them. Venice felt himself freeze up at the sight.</p><p>Above the clearing, a robot that was made of multiple orbs circled around menacingly. On its front (or at least Venice thought it was its front, he considered it quite hard to tell) it had a set of huge, metallic jaws and eyes. “That’s a new one,” Sonic murmured. “I propose we call him Wormbot.” Venice could hear Silver sigh, and knew for sure the other was rolling his eyes.</p><p>Taking his hand, his friend guided him to a large bush at the base of a tree, lifting both of them up with his powers so their footsteps wouldn’t make noise. “Stay in there and don’t make a sound,” he whispered urgently as he helped Venice settle under the branches. Tucking his hands away under his stomach Venice made himself as small as possible. He had a perfect vantage point here, he could see both Sonic and Silver as they talked to themselves and the clearing with the robots. The creations seemed to be forming formations around the larger ones, and he gulped.</p><p>Sonic zipped away from Silver, surprisingly quiet for a change as he made his way out of Venice’s view. He could see Silver crouch down more, inching closer towards the clearing. Silver did something weird with his fingers, and both him and Sonic burst from the undergrowth at the same time as they rushed at the robots. Chaos was imminent: the robots had been caught completely by surprise, and began to haphazardly shoot and run around. Electricity cackled through the air as the whips of the larger robots were flung around, accidentally taking out a few of their companions. They really had no idea what hit them, Venice thought with a flicker of pride aimed at the two hedgehogs.</p><p>Sonic was moving much too fast for him to see what the speedster was doing. The only thing he could make out was a lot of noise and a blue wind rushing around the clearing, followed by a trail of destroyed robots. On occasion Silver would grab him with his powers and hurl him at one of the larger opponents, and when he hit Sonic blasted off again immediately. Venice was surprised that he even had a nemesis still. Surely anyone would give up the moment they were faced with such speed and power? Who was this Dr. Eggman that Silver hated so much?</p><p>The psychic fared just as well as the blue hedgehog. He darted around through the air, grabbing both live and destroyed robots with his powers and sending them everywhere. Some collapsed and broke apart as they hit the ground, others shattered the instant they made contact with rocks and trees. A handful Silver cleverly used to aim at more of his adversaries, and they fell easily and rapidly. Within less than a minute the entire clearing was void of any of the smaller enemies.</p><p>Not taking a moment to catch their breath, Sonic and Silver turned their attention to the larger robots that were left standing, as did Venice. The mechanical creations walked towards them menacingly, their arms raised and whips at the ready. Even if Venice was nowhere near them he still shuddered as he saw them advance.</p><p>“Ha!” Sonic called out as he curled into a ball and aimed himself at one of them… only to bounce off with a <em>thunk</em>, having made barely a dent in the robot’s armour. All his other attempt had been fruitless too, Venice had seen, but they must have missed it in the rush of the battle. “They’re tough!” Sonic called out to Silver, but the Blue Bluer seemed entirely unbothered by that fact. He seemed to become more annoyed when his second attempt was just as unsuccessful, as was his third. Silver’s powers proved no more effective.</p><p>They both had to jump away as the whip of one of the robots crashed down where they had been standing, the sickening cackle making Venice cower. If one of them got hit with that thing, would they die? It looked very strong and painful… “Stay on your toes!” Silver called out to Sonic. Some movement above them caught Venice’s attention. The robot that Sonic had dubbed Wormbot was still circling above the clearing, more hectic now. Occasionally it would dip down the slightest bit, before returning to its course. What was up with that thing?</p><p>The battle went much more uphill from there, and not in favour of the hedgehogs. With the trouble the robots on the ground were causing them, they probably didn’t notice Wormbot’s increasingly concerning behaviour. Venice’s entire throat had clamped up, and no matter how much he tried to call out to them no noise would pass his lips. Even with Sonic’s and Silver’s combined strength, it took much longer to break one of the robots apart than all the tiny ones combined. But they persevered, first breaking apart one, then another, and a third… Venice waited with bated breath, too scared to move. With every robot that fell he felt the slightest bit more confident they would succeed. There was only one left now. They would make it…!</p><p>He flinched as Sonic cried out in pain. The Blue Blur had miscalculated, the robot making an unexpected movement with his arm and batting the hedgehog away like he was merely a discarded toy. “<em>Sonic</em>!” Silver called out to him as the other slid over the ground, tumbling like a ragdoll until he crashed against a rock with a sickening noise. He didn’t get up again, though he could hear him groan. Venice watched as the robot utilised Silver’s moment of distraction, bringing down the whip and striking the psychic right in his back. “AUGH!”</p><p>Venice shrieked the same time Silver did, even if he himself remained unharmed. With the force Silver was smacked away as well, colliding with the ground of the clearing a few feet away. His mouth wide open, Venice witnessed Wormbot make a dive down where Silver had partially scrambled up and was half-leaning on the ground, his body shocking from the electrocution.</p><p>“NO!”</p><p>Before Wormbot could reach Silver Venice had pulled himself out of the bush and rushed over to where he was, pushing him out of the way with his powers. The last thing he heard was Silver frantically cry out his name as the robot’s jaws closed around him and he was encased in metal and darkness.  </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>:)</p><p>*casually tortures my son the day before his birthday*</p><p>The part wherein Silver and Venice witness Sunset City is based on a dream I had! The scenery and the flight were exactly the same. When I woke up I wrote it in the fic immediately, because it was too pretty to forget!</p><p>Boy, is Venice is trouble! I'm excited to continue writing for this!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15: Hostage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver struggles to keep his cool and Venice learns everyone is very, *very* much in trouble.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After destroying the last robot they had gone back to the HQ, which in Silver’s case meant that he had to be dragged back by Sonic, screaming and fighting all the way. Right now he was pacing at an idiotically rapid speed through the main room, waving his hands around, yelling angrily, and occasionally kicking at the furniture. Everyone had quickly decided to give him all the space he needed to cool down, and as such had left the room. No-one had felt brave enough to confront an angry psychic.</p><p> Sonic, the only one who had stayed behind, was watching the grey-furred hedgehog with his brows raised. His head was still pounding from the impact he had been subjected to during their battle, and Silver’s irate hollering certainly didn’t make things better. He understood exactly how the other felt, but he also knew that in this way nothing would be solved. He cleared his throat, then called out to the other. “Silver?”</p><p>A pair of yellow eyes filled to the brim with rage looked at him with the force of daggers. “WHAT?” Silver bellowed. Sonic lowered his ears at the volume. But beyond the anger, he could see pure terror in the others gaze, and it made his heart bleed. He quickly zipped over to Silver and tried to pat him on his shoulder, but was brusquely shoved away. Deciding the other needed some personal space right now, he lifted his hands in a showcase of goodwill. “I know you’re hurting, but this won’t solve anything. You need to calm down and think rationally for a second.” He had barely finished the second sentence before he got picked up by Silver’s psychokinesis and got slammed in a wall. Having expected the other to get even angrier at his words, he had already raised his quills and as such was spared the worst from the impact, though it made his injured head pulse with pain much more.</p><p>Silver hovered inches above his face. He evidently had decided that this was the perfect moment to show the world exactly how he felt, as if he had not done that for the last couple of hours. “YOU DON’T <strong>UNDERSTAND</strong>! I PROMISED I’d PROTECT HIM and I FAILED and now he’s CAPTURED and WHO KNOWS what Eggman’s going to DO TO HIM and he might be HURT and he’ll be so SCARED and…” Having run out of breath entirely, Silver took a few seconds to gasp for air. Sonic gratefully used the moment of silence to push him down to the ground and try once more to comfort him, suppressing the pounding around his skull.</p><p>“Eggman’s not going to hurt or kill him, I assure you.” At the disbelieving glare he got from the trembling hedgehog, Sonic continued. “Looking at the way Wormbot attacked you, he clearly was just trying to capture anyone I know, not him specifically. He’ll be waiting for us to get Venice back, and he’s building his entire plan around that. We know what he’s going to do and can use that to our advantage.”</p><p>Silver let his head hang, trying to suppress the whimpers at the top of his throat while Sonic gently rubbed his back. The two sat in silence for a few moments, Silver focusing on his breathing while Sonic waited patiently, before the psychic hedgehog looked up once more. To Sonic’s relief, the anger had mostly dissipated and had been replaced by determination, though he could still see some traces of fear in the golden orbs. Regardless, Silver’s voice was steady when he spoke: “You’re right. I can’t act like this, it won’t help Venice at all.” At the mention of his friend Sonic saw a small smile creep on Silver's lips, and the grey hedgehog stared past Sonic at the opposite wall. “Seriously, what would he say if he had seen me like this?”</p><p>“As if he’d ever believe you were even capable of acting like such a angry mother hen,” Sonic chuckled, getting a loving punch in the arm from the angry mother hen in question.</p><p>“You shut your mouth,” Silver muttered, though he seemed to have cheered up at least a little bit. He sat with Sonic for a few more seconds, before lifting himself up and gracefully landing with both feet on the ground. Sonic carefully hoisted himself up as well, his soreness making him feel somewhat uncoordinated still.</p><p>“Are ya feeling better now?”</p><p>“I think so, yes.” Silver rubbed his arm absent-mindedly, before glancing over to Sonic once more. “And… thank you.”</p><p>The Blue Blur grinned brightly. “No prob, Bob. Now, are you ready to save your buddy?”</p><p>“Yes.” No matter what would happen, Silver knew that he was willing to do anything if it meant saving Venice from the clutches of the Doctor. “I’m ready.”</p><p>--------</p><p>When the round man laid his eyes on him, he was less than amused, to put it mildly. No matter how much Venice had screamed and begged and cried and flung himself and his powers at the walls of his metal prison over and over again nothing had happened, and eventually the static in his ears and behind his eyes had become too much and his mind had turned blank. When it dissipated he found himself in a round cell made entirely of glass, with a very angry Dr. Eggman staring at him through it. He scampered backwards with a cry, only being able to move back a few inches before hitting the wall. The scientist laughed mockingly at his fright, though the laugh disappeared <em>very </em>quickly and a scowl took its place.</p><p>“Now what do we have here?” the man sneered. “I try to capture Sonic or his friends, <em>any</em> of his friends, and instead I get some random mutt who only <em>looks </em>like that wretched time traveler!” His ears flat against his head, Venice flinched as some spit landed on the glass at the man’s words. “Where did it go wrong?! It was <em>foolproof</em>!” he roared as he turned away from Venice, towards the console that was situated on the other side of the room the cell was in. Angrily the man began to mash buttons and type haphazardly on multiple keyboards, ranting all the while about the supposed failure of his brilliant plan. Pressing himself against the wall near his back Venice tried to make himself as small as possible, his ears ringing with fear.</p><p>He gasped as on the screen above the console, recorded footage of Sonic and Silver’s fight began to play. Judging from the angle it was taken from Wormbot’s point of view. As the battle went on Venice’s terror grew and the man’s angry grumbles became less until he had become eerily quiet. When they witnessed Venice make his dive to save Silver as he got captured Eggman turned towards the psychic with a terrifyingly broad grin on his face, his anger having melted away as snow in the sun.</p><p>“Venice, huh?” he remarked in a tone one could almost call conversational, were it not for the utterly wicked facial expression that accompanied it. “I do say Silver sounded quite… <em>upset</em> at your capture.” He prowled back to where he had been standing before, and Venice whimpered as he tried to melt into the wall, to no avail. The man towered over him, gleefully chuckling. “If you know him so well you’d give your life for him-“ his grin broadened more at Venice’s sob, “-then I dare say that they’ll be setting up a plan to rescue you soon. Ah, yes!” he sighed with obvious pleasure as he turned away from his captive, his mood having shifted entirely as he gestured broadly around  the room. “They’ll hunt me down like the rats they are, and launch a desperate attempt to save you! Little do they know, it will be their undoing!”</p><p>Looking right into Venice’s teary eyes, he rubbed his hands together with a most reprehensible smile on his face. “What does it feel like to know that <em>you’ll </em>be the cause of their demise? Ooh, I could kiss you right now! My plan will be set in motion, and I’ll get rid of that blasted hedgehog and all his little friends for good!” He made his way to the entrance next to the console, his laughter shaking Venice to his core. “I need to give my weaponry a final check, <em>juuust </em>to be sure everything will go according to plan. Don’t go anywhere!” And with a final, mocking laugh, Venice was left alone in the room.</p><p>The moment the entrance shut behind the scientist he immediately flung a psychic fist at the glass, recoiling with a cry when it didn’t even crack and a bolt of pain crashed through his mind. Gasping, he tried again, though also this time it had no effect and his vision was overtaken by swirling colours for a few seconds. With desperation setting in he imagined grasping the dimensional fabric and tearing it open, but the resulting agony it set off in his head nearly made him collapse. A glance at a trembling hand showed him the teal-coloured marks, shimmering much more dimly than usual and with grey lines crisscrossing through them. Frantically Venice tried to curl up into a ball and shoot himself at the barrier as he knew Sonic and Silver could do, but it only resulted in him tripping and crashing against the wall painfully. He slid back to the ground, groaning as he clutched his head. Burying his face in his coat, he forced back his sobs and tears. He would <em>not </em>give the man that satisfaction.</p><p>----</p><p>“Okay, here’s the plan.” Silver listened intently as Amy pulled up a map of the world on the screen against the wall. He and Sonic had quickly gathered as many of their friends as they could to help safe Venice, which… wasn’t a lot of people. In the end, only he, Sonic, Amy, Tails, and the Chaotix were able to come. Anyone else in the Restoration had already been put on different missions and Knuckles had refused to leave Angel Island for something he had described as merely trivial, Amy had explained to him sympathetically as his entire body went rigid with rage. Team Dark had been too busy as well, but they had graciously provided all the intel they had on Eggman’s current situation, with the promise of “payment” later. Silver still fumed at the way the conversation had gone. Venice could be dying right now, and Rouge had demanded “payment!”</p><p>Realising his thoughts had drifted off, he unclenched his fists and turned his attention to Amy’s speech once more. “Eggman’s main flying fortress is located in <em>this </em>area.“ Amy pointed towards a region that was filled with volcanoes, according to the map. “From what we can see it’s heavily guarded. We’ll take a single shuttle, nothing too big. We’re not planning on bringing down this base of operations, our main focus is to grab Venice and then get out of there. The region is too dangerous and unstable for a full-fledged fight.” Looking at the volcanoes on the map Silver did not hesitate to believe that. He knew from personal experience how volatile areas filled with lava and fissures could be.</p><p>“We have some weaponry on the shuttle, but not too much. This needs to be a quick, coordinated attack. Tails, you’ll be our designated pilot. Sonic, you and I will set up a distraction. We can fly between ships on Extreme Gears. Chaotix, you guys help Silver with locating Venice, and then come help us out. Silv, it’s up to you to get him out of there in the end.” All the listeners nodded resolutely, giving themselves one final check to see if they had all equipment and resources they would need before making their way to the shuttle.</p><p>Even though the shuttle had multiple compartments, with Tails’ permission they all placed themselves in the captain’s room. Sonic was doing some stretches, Tails was carefully piloting the ship, Charmy was cheerfully buzzing around, Espio was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed, and Amy and Vector seemed to be going over battle plans and intricate drawings of Eggman bases. Silver felt his blood boil as his gaze went over them. How could they remain so calm?!</p><p>Espio moved away from where he was standing and sat down next to Silver, giving him a wordless invitation to meditate. Taking a deep breath Silver took the opportunity, knowing he would drive everyone and himself crazy if left to his own devices otherwise. Keeping half an eye on the window he focused on keeping calm and sparing his energy. They would arrive in only a short time, and he’d be ready to save Venice no matter the cost.</p><p>-----</p><p>Venice had no idea how much time he spent despairing. Through taking many deep breaths and imagining Silver was right next to him he calmed down enough to peek up and look around the room. It had the console and its screen on one side and his cell on another, but a structure in the middle caught his attention. It was long, though certainly not as tall as the broken skyscrapers of Frozen City. He could easily fit inside it more than a dozen times for sure. From what he could tell it was seemingly placed on its side. It appeared to be made with dark grey metal, and one end was rounded while the other expanded a little and hoisted multiple odd-looking circles. The floor it was placed on looked odd as well, almost like a hatch of sorts. A multitude of cables and tubes ran from the thing to the wall, into a second console placed against it. What Venice found most intriguing were a handful of beautiful glowing gemstones placed inside slots that the console contained. There were seven of them, he could see, and they each had a different colour. The light they gave off was reflected in the metal of the structure below them.</p><p>The throbbing in his head eventually became so bad he got ripped away from his musings. Flopping over on his belly and pressing his body against the wall of the cell as best as he could, he placed his forehead on the metal ground. The cool touch helped a little bit to alleviate it, but Venice knew his powers were nearly exhausted. At least now they wouldn’t come shooting out of his hands the moment he got frightened, he thought to himself with a bitter chuckle. How in the world would he get out of here if he couldn’t even rely on his worthless curse to be there for him the <em>one </em>time he actually needed it?</p><p>Venice’s ear flicked as the door slid open and echoing foot resounded, though he was too exhausted and frightened to really pay it any attention. The footsteps stopped in front of his cell, but both Venice and Eggman kept quiet until the psychic heard the man walk away again. They stopped a bit wayward, and he could hear buttons getting pressed and the man occasionally grunting.</p><p>“You know,” Eggman spoke up suddenly. It took Venice a few seconds to shift his head in such a way he could fix the man with a one-eyed glare. When he did he saw the scientist looking directly at him, though it was hard to tell with the glasses that covered his eyes. “Usually Sonic and his entourage are quite talkative when I capture one of them. Always calling me names, attempting to mock me to hide their despair…” He placed his fingers on his chin and frowned as he looked Venice over more. “You are… surprisingly quiet. I would almost say you don’t know how to talk, ho ho! Or am I simply so imposing the words cannot pass your lips?”</p><p>Venice didn’t bother dignifying that with a response, instead dropping his head so he was staring at the ground once more. He knew from experience that no amount of begging and pleading would make such a person change their mind, so he wouldn’t embarrass himself with an attempt. With a small tremble he realised he had no idea what Eggman would do with him if he did manage to kill Sonic and Silver, and he got hit by a sudden wave of nausea. The man chuckled at his muffled whimper.</p><p>“Aww, what’s wrong? Frightened?” the man mocked him. “You’ll play a most important part in my rise to total world domination, you know. You should be proud of yourself!”</p><p>“W-what are you p-plotting…?” Venice whispered terrifiedly, almost unable to lift up his head to look the other in the eye.</p><p>The man let loose another salvo of laughter. “So you can talk after all, huh? <em>Well</em>, since you asked ever so politely, I will tell you a little bit. You won’t be able to escape from there anyway.” Gesturing towards the odd metallic structure and the console with the gemstones, Eggman grinned gleefully. “Witness my ultimate creation, a Chaos Emerald-powered hyper-bomb homing missile! This beauty is specifically designed to use the Emerald’s power to home in on Sonic’s innate Chaos energies, wiping him clean off the face of the planet when it detonates!” Venice’s eyes widened when he heard what the man said. The Chaos Emeralds, those were the things Silver was looking for in the future and couldn’t find! And now Eggman would use them to destroy Sonic!</p><p>Venice scrambled up, mouth wide open and mind rigid with shock. “The Chaos Emeralds are charging the bomb as we speak! With their power, this blast will be so intense it is also the final curtain call for whatever friends he has with them,” the man chuckled. He turned towards Venice fully, rubbing his hands together. “And that’s where <em>you </em>come in, my little friend. If Silver is truly desperate to save you, he’ll be joining Sonic’s side no matter what! When that wretched time traveler is annihilated for good, my plans will <em>never</em> be undone again with future knowledge! This is the end, and the world is mine!” Venice could only stare helplessly as the man roared with laughter, holding his stomach as his body shook with the deafening noise.</p><p>The man’s glee was short-lived however, and both he and Venice jumped up when an alarm started to blare. “Drat, they’re here already! It’s not fully charged yet!” Eggman cursed as he began to mash the buttons once more. On the screen incomprehensive text and commands appeared, which Venice could not make out. With a final press on a button, the madman stepped away from the console. “Well, no matter. The Emeralds are still connected to it anyway. The energy the bomb syphons from them in these final minutes will be more than enough to annihilate my pesky adversaries!” he huffed, rubbing his hands together. “I’ll be off, destroying your friends,” the man assured Venice gleefully as he made his way to the door. “When the hatch opens and my hyper bomb falls through, you’ll know Sonic and Silver are done for, and you will be too!” And with a final bout of laughter the door fell close behind him.</p><p>Mind blank with panic, Venice renewed his attempts to break the glass wall. No matter what he did or how often he flung a kick or a fist at it, the structure utterly refused to budge. Eventually he collapsed against the wall, exhausted and sobbing. Sonic and Silver and whoever else they had with them were going to die, and it was all his fault. Silver had told him to stay put, and he hadn’t listened, and now his friends would suffer for it. Venice buried his face inside his knees further, fully wailing now. If only Silver was here, he would know what to do for sure. <em>His</em> powers would be strong enough to break out, and even if not he would come up with some other ingenious plan to get out of here and save everyone. Silver would just be able to open up a purple portal, or teleport out, or-</p><p>Venice’s eyes widened. Teleporting... That was it! Scrambling up and quickly wiping his eyes, he took a deep breath and closed them… only to falter not even a second later when he realised he had <em>no </em>idea what to do. Silver had made it look so easy, disappearing and reappearing in a completely different place in only a fraction of a second… but the more knowledgeable psychic had made him promise to not try by himself until he had more experience, and look at what had happened the one other time he went against Silver’s orders.</p><p>Pushing all his fears away, Venice focused on the here and now. This was an emergency, and there was no doubt in his mind that another horrible, painful existence and eventually a torturous death would be waiting for him if Eggman did succeed in getting rid of Sonic and Silver. No, he was going to get out of here or die trying. How did Silver always explain using their powers? It had to do with <em>willing </em>things, he knew. “Our power is limitless, as long as we use them creatively and wisely,” Silver had told him once. Well, he now <em>willed </em>himself to get out of here and save Silver.</p><p>He imagined grasping that desire in his mind, and made it part of his entire being. Closing his eyes and curling his hands into fists so tightly that they hurt, he repeated the mantra in his head. Get out of here… Save Silver… Get out of here… Save Silver… Get <em>out of here</em>… <strong><em>Save</em></strong>-</p><p>For either a second or an eternity he was weightless and simultaneously crushed under unmeasurable pressure, his entire vision both black and assaulted with colours at the same time, his ears not picking up any noise and all the clamour in the world at once. He felt nothing and everything.</p><p>The sensation quickly turned into pain as he tumbled out of the air onto the ground, his head <em>exploding </em>with agony. Clutching it with trembling hands, he tried to bite back any sobs and other noise that could alert the man to what he was doing. Trying to lift himself to his knees, he retched as wave after wave of nausea pounded into his throat. Though the tears pooling in his eyes made it difficult to see, Venice witnessed the glass of the cell opposite to where it was before, and he was noticeably closer to the console than before… he had done it!</p><p>The relief took away the sharpest edges of the pain, and he lifted himself up with shaking legs. The symbols on his hands had gone fully grey, he could see. With the last of his powers, he had saved himself.</p><p>With a jolt Venice realised that he had not thought about what he was going to do now. Glancing around, everything in his body screaming at him to lay down and rest, his eyes fell on the hyper bomb. Silver had explained to him that the Chaos Emeralds were gems of immeasurable power, able to grand wishes and create miracles for those both good and evil. Unable to think straight, he staggered towards the contraption. If he got them away from the bomb, everything would be fine…!</p><p>It couldn’t have been more than a few feet towards the bomb and the console, but tears were dripping from his eyes due to the exertion of getting there. Collapsing against the smooth metal, his fingers trembling almost too much to get a grip on the shiny white Emerald, he weakly tried to pull it loose. It felt warm under his hand, revitalising him the tiniest bit as his palm brushed over its surface. With the slight boost in energy he managed to wrench it out of its slot. He stared at his reflection in its shimmering surface, and grimaced as he took in his tear-stained face and ghostly pale cheeks.  </p><p>With the Emerald held firmly in his hand he felt strong enough to take out the other ones, working quickly to save them from their own prison. In no time flat he clutched all seven against his chest. They were warm as they laid in his arms, but not uncomfortably so. He could feel energy humming inside them, as if they wanted to thank him for helping them. His legs felt stronger and his mind clearer than they had in a while, and Venice quickly got away from the console and the hatch in front of it just in case it would open underneath his feet.</p><p>A few of the Emeralds nearly fell out of his grasp with the movement, and Venice could feel the angry despair bubble up once more. He had to get out of here with them, but how could he possibly do that if they were constantly at risk of being dropped? Frantically thinking, Venice’s eye fell on his reflection in the metal of the bomb. He could see himself in his agonising state, with his orange chest fluff peeking out a little but from underneath… his coat!</p><p>Quickly dropping to his knees to carefully place the Emeralds on the ground (Silver had implied they were sentient when he explained them to Venice, and the last thing he needed right now was the ire of seven immensely powerful wish-granting artifacts), he opened up the coat and pulled it over his arms. Splaying it out over the ground he placed the Emeralds on the surface one by one, before bundling them up fully in the fabric. It was certainly not a fool-proof method, he could see their light shine through gaps and creaks, but it was the best he could do right now. Not sparing the room another glance, he ran out of the door into Eggman’s facility.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Boy, it took a while before this one had my blessing, but here it is!</p><p>Irate Silver for the win! This kid has a really bad temper (depending on the continuity), and with his psychic powers he would make a formidable opponent. Luckily Sonic knows what to say to people to get through to them!</p><p>Also, writing for Eggman is SO much fun, guys! He’s just so evil and mean! Don’t ask me if a hyper-bomb homing missile is an actual thing, I have no idea. Just shoved together as many Explosive Names as I could think of in the moment for extra explosive threats!</p><p>I actually believe the Chaos Emeralds don’t do anything to revitalise you, at least in game canon. It’s different for the comics, where using the Emeralds does revitalise you, but in the games they seem to tire you out instead (e.g. Shadow getting yote from space due to his super form becoming too overwhelming). But they’re like made of pure Chaos energy or something, and my own headcanon is that psychic powers are closely related to Chaos powers. In the earliest drafts of Sonic ’06 it was stated Silver’s psychokinesis came from the Chaos Emeralds, but that was never elaborated upon. So I just took that and used them to make Venice feel at least a little bit better! He deserves a smol break before next chapter :)</p><p>Next chapter is almost entirely finished, I'm just writing the final scene and polishing it! Stay tuned!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16: The Escape pt. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two friends are reunited and many more are in really big trouble.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The moment the Resistance shuttle had neared Eggman’s flying armada, it had opened fire. With Tails’ skilful piloting they avoided taking damage, but they all knew they were in danger. Based on the explosions and tremors clamouring through the air, Eggman clearly had pulled out all the stops to bring them down this time. Tails brought them as close to the largest ship as he could, his face one of pure concentration as he dodged the haphazard shooting. “We’ll move out! Remember the plan!” Amy called to them as Sonic took her in one arm and an Extreme Gear in another. He ran towards the hatch, jumping out on the airboard gracefully as he lifted Amy up bridal style. Silver saw them rush towards and land on one of the smaller ships, before Vector called his attention.</p><p>“Charmy! Stay with Espio and go to another ship. Try to bring them down as quickly as possible! Cause as much ruckus as you can!” the crocodile ordered his team before turning to Silver. “Amy and I have studied the notes we got from Team Dark about this particular setup,” he told Silver urgently. “It’s most likely Venice is being kept in the largest ship in the middle. That one is Eggman’s main base, but it’s also the most heavily guarded.”</p><p>“That’s nothing I can’t handle,” Silver hissed back to him, nearly jumping out of his skin with irritation. They were wasting precious time! Vector shook his head. “Eggy knows we’re here for Venice, so he’ll be counting on us to attack his main place of operations. You’ll have to enter, but make sure you’re not caught. We need to keep him in the dark as much as possible. The rest of us will distract him with an extensive attack on his defence forces to buy you some time.”</p><p>“Stealth mission, got it.” Checking one final time if he had his communicator with him, he gave Vector a salute and jumped out of the hatch as well. He made sure to fly a bit away from the shuttle to not accidentally be hit by Tails, who hadn’t been able to shake the heavy firing and was twirling through the air. Nevertheless, the fox still had time to aim for Eggman’s ships that surrounded him. Silver cheered inwardly when he expertly shot a handful of his foes. Finding the largest base was easy; it was surrounded by hundreds of smaller ships, and over a dozen times bigger than any of them. Thinking rapidly, Silver let himself drop a good bit in the air. A frontal infiltration would be too obvious, he’d be caught in seconds. It was best if he flew underneath them while his friends distracted them higher up.</p><p>As he neared the ship, warily keeping an eye on what happened above him, he could hear the ground rumble and feel the air tremble. Deep black smoke rose from the craters of the volcanoes, alongside the occasional large orange piece of debris and fumes of lava. Clearly the bombing Eggman was trying to subject their small group to was putting a huge strain on the landscape they were fighting above. Silver forced himself to fly faster. If any of those volcanoes erupted, everyone would be in huge trouble for sure. He had to be quick.  </p><p>Luckily for him, it did not appear that he had alerted any of the defence ships. A few had caught fire, and others had already dropped to the ground due to the damage the Restoration had inflicted on them. But for each that was destroyed, another one seemed to take its place in less than a second. What was Eggman hiding on that ship, that was so important that it needed to be defended this heavily? Sonic had said it wasn’t because of Venice, so what was Eggman plotting? Silver felt apprehension crawl up his spine. His friends couldn’t keep fighting forever… he had to be quick. Having reached the main ship with no further issues, Silver quickly flew over to a small metal ledge on its side that he could stand on. “Guys, I’m at the underside of the ship,” he spoke quickly into his communicator.</p><p>The thing buzzed a little before Vector responded. “There should be an entrance on top! Hurry!” Silver nodded to no-one in particular. Lifting himself with his powers once again, he flew upwards, sticking as close to the metal exterior of the ship as possible. The battle raged on around him, and he dodged many rapidly firing turrets on his way to the ship’s deck. When he had flown up fully he glanced over the edge. There were more Badniks up here than he could count, all placed in strategic formations. Moving a bit wayward and pressing himself behind a small watchtower situated near the bow of the ship, Silver thought about how to best proceed. If he destroyed even a single one, he would give himself away, and that would undoubitly mean Venice’s demise. He cursed under his breath. Now what?</p><p>An idea crossed his mind, and he grinned at his ingenuity. Venice had been so impressed with his ability to teleport, why not use it here as well? Peeking past the tower he ran his gaze over the deck, looking for the entrance. It was right in the middle, he saw, leading to another huge structure built on the deck itself. It was quite far away from where he was, but there was no doubt in his mind that he could make it. Determining the best place to reappear, he focused his energy on himself. Materialising at the exact spot a fraction of a second later, he quickly ducked away in the shadows. None of the robots had reacted, though it certainly didn’t help that they all had their back to the entrance. Silver allowed himself a small moment of celebration, before turning around and disappearing into the structure further, following the large corridor into the belly of the ship. He was getting closer to Venice with every passing second for sure.</p><p>----</p><p>Clutching the precious bundle to his chest, Venice ran through the facility. He had no idea where he was going, rushing through corridors as alarms blared around him. Occasionally a robot noticed him and opened fire, but Venice was too rapid for them to hit. Before they could take aim he had already flicked away around a bend or through a door, the Emeralds pulsing with energy in his arms. Venice was unsure if they were giving him the strength to continue, but he had no time to think about it as he continued his dash through the building.</p><p>As he ran  through wide hallways and past narrow corners he realised that he had no idea where in the world he was supposed to go to. If he somehow ran into Eggman, there would be nothing stopping the man from simply taking the Emeralds again. He grasped them tighter. He had come so far already, he couldn’t give up now!</p><p>It appeared as if the hallways were getting more bright as he progressed. Was he running upwards? Venice followed the slight increase in light, praying it would lead to somewhere outside and away from here. When he rounded a final corner he knew he had made a mistake. It had led to a hangar of sorts, a wide open space filled with more robots than he had seen in his life. The moment he tried to spin around and flee the door fell close behind him with an echoing bang. Very slowly turning around again, the ringing of the air making way for eerie quiet, Venice saw how the attention of every robot was turned towards him. There were hundreds of them.</p><p>With a shock the robots came to life fully, mechanically stomping towards him as he tried to scramble back. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Some of the robots moved their arm towards him, others readied the turrets they carried. The first salvo exploded right in front of his feet, where he had been standing but a second ago. The impact made him trip and fall backwards, the Chaos Emeralds spilling out of his coat and scattering onto the floor. The robots continued their advance, preparing themselves for another fire round he surely would not escape this time.</p><p>“Silver,” he whispered as he placed his arms around his head and closed his eyes.</p><p>A roar, followed by a crash that resounded from all around the room, reached his eardrums. It was followed by a very soft humming, which ringed in his ears. Venice sat unmoving, his vision black and body frozen. Had he died?</p><p>“<strong>VENICE</strong>!”</p><p>There were hands near his shoulders that lifted him to his legs, one pulling down his arms from his face and the other frantically shaking him. Startled, he tried to pull away as his eyes shot open. He was in a dome of sorts, its walls cackling with pure psychic energy, staring right into the wide eyes of Silver.</p><p>For a moment Venice could only gape, his body entirely unresponsive. Silver’s cry of “You’re alright!” shook him from his stupor, and he firmly wrapped his arms around his friend as Silver pulled him into the tightest hug he had ever given him. Tears were flowing from his eyes and he wailed as he buried his head in Silver’s shoulder. He couldn’t tell if he was crying from relief or fear. One of Silver’s hands ran over his quills and body while the other clutched him so strongly he could feel it in his bones. His legs gave up fully and he collapsed against the psychic, slumping with his full weight against him. It did not deter Silver in the slightest.</p><p>“Oh, Vennie…” Silver murmured as he sobbed, moving one hand behind his ear like he usually did. Venice could feel him press his lips against his forehead in that weird motion he didn’t know the name of. Despite everything the odd gesture made him giggle slightly through his tears, and he managed to pull his face away from Silver’s shoulder with a shaky breath.</p><p>Still holding onto him, Silver pressed their noses together. “You’re alright,” he whispered, and it sounded more trembly than anything Venice had ever heard from him. After a few seconds of respite Silver’s posture loosened, and he released his death grip on the ivory psychic as he looked over his head around the dome he had thrown up.</p><p>“Are those… the Chaos Emeralds?” he asked Venice, voice more steady as he picked one up with his powers. At the mention of the name all the thoughts about the bomb came rushing back into his head, and Venice was overtaken by a new wail. “Eggman…!” was all he could choke out as he tugged Silver’s arm weakly, nearly hyperventilating. That bomb was going to explode and they were going to die here.</p><p>“Deep breaths, Ven,” Silver instructed him, firm but also calm and gentle. Placing one of Venice’s hands on his own chest, he took a few deep breaths himself. “Copy me. We’re safe now, I promise.”</p><p>They most assuredly were not, but Venice followed his advice, if only to be able to tell him sooner. The moment he felt his voice could carry him the words began to spill out. “E-Eggman has a b-bomb and it’s going to e-explode and it’s powered by the Emeralds and it’s gonna home in on S-Sonic and we’re all gonna <em>die</em> and we need to get <em>out of here</em> and it’s all my f-fault I’m so <em>sorry…!</em>”</p><p>At the mention of the word <em>bomb </em>Silver was instantly on high alert, his entire posture tense. His eyes widened even more when hearing Venice mention Sonic. For a few seconds both he and Venice were frozen, until the former almost mechanically came to life again. Reaching up Silver clumsily fumbled with the communicator piece in his ear. “I’ve found Venice, he’s alright!” he mumbled shakily into his intercom once he got it to work, his voice raising in volume and strength as he continued speaking. “He says Eggman has a bomb, we all need to get out of here <em>now</em>! Sonic’s in danger!”</p><p>“Everyone, get back to the shuttle! We’re retreating!” Venice heard Amy’s voice call out over the intercom, alongside the confirmation of the rest of the people they had with them. Sonic himself sounded only slightly perturbed, despite hearing that he was going to get killed in a short amount of time. How often had he been in situations like these for him to remain so calm? Venice thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest for sure. “Silver, hurry! You’ll need to fly back, we’ll try to get as far away with the shuttle as possible!” Amy added.</p><p>“Roger!” Turning off the communicator, Silver lifted up the Emeralds with his powers, also using them to quickly drape Venice in his coat. The timid psychic gasped when the Emeralds disappeared in a flash near Silver’s hands. “I got them, they’re safe with me,” Silver hurriedly assured him as he witnessed him stare. Venice saw him give his hands with the greyed-out marks one glance before he lifted him up, one arm around his back and the other underneath his knees. “You sit tight, I’ll fly us out of here!”</p><p>With that, he lifted the dome he had placed around them and blasted off, not waiting for the other psychic to respond. Venice glanced around the hanger in the few seconds that they were there, gaping. The whole area had been wiped entirely clean, and <em>nothing </em>was left of the robots. He could see splinters and fragments of metal piled up against the walls. Had Silver done all that for him?</p><p>Pressing himself as tightly against Silver as possible, Venice placed his face against the psychic’s chest, peeking around to see what was happening. Silver moved too fast for any defence to pose them problems, robots and turrets getting destroyed with much more force than necessary as they rushed past them. Venice buried his head against Silver fully, suppressing any more tears. They’d get out of here safely, he tried to assure himself. He’d have faith in Silver.</p><p>-----</p><p>Now that the ruse of stealth was up, Silver pulled no punches as he rushed himself and Venice out of the ship. With every robot and turret that got torn apart by his powers, never to see the light of day again, he grinned slightly. In his head he reminded himself over and over to not get cocky. Venice was relying on him, and the last thing he wanted to happen was cause him harm due to being overconfident or distracted. The psychic that was clutching him like a lifeline had already suffered enough due to his inattentiveness.</p><p>Getting back to the deck was easy now that Silver could just blast through the ship. Still, something was nagging him. There were Badniks abound, but where was Eggman himself? He hadn’t seen the madman anywhere, not in his main ship nor with a contraption in the sky. When he questioned Venice about it, his friend had simply squeaked and shaken his head. Silver snarled. Had the scientist really been so cowardly to save his own hide and leave the battle before attempting to blow them up?!</p><p>His question got answered the moment he and Venice reached the deck. Venice shrieked as Eggman’s voice boomed all around them, his irate words thundering from the sky. The man himself was nowhere to be seen, though. “It’s just an intercom, he’s not here!” Silver assured the trembling psychic before lifting themselves up further into the air, not wanting to give Eggman the time of day. What was the best way to fly from a ship that might be about to explode?</p><p>“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?!” Eggman’s voice roared from the ship. Judging from where it came there probably was a speaker on the very top of it. “Running away the moment the battle is no longer in your favour! Fools! You’re about to PERISH!”</p><p>“Amy, where are you right now? Is Sonic still with you?!” Silver called into his communicator. Eggman’s voice was so loud that surely his friends in the shuttle would be able to hear whatever he said, too. It would certainly be something for the Blue Blur to come rushing back to help them out, but Venice had said it was going to home in on him in particular. Surely if Sonic was not in the vicinity it wouldn’t be able to find its way towards him? Silver had little idea how trackers worked, but he dared hope that in this case Eggman would made it search for hedgehog-shaped bodies or blue fur.  </p><p>“Sonic’s here with us! We’re a distance away, but Tails says it depends on the strength of that bomb whether we’re safe! Ask Venice if he knows anything else about it!” the pink hedgehog yelled back at him. Silver shot a glance at Venice, whose pricked ears told him he had been listening. “Emeralds…” the psychic whimpered. “It was s-stealing their p-power…”</p><p>Silver could feel the hum of the Chaos Emeralds from where he had stored them away. “Uh, I think it was powered by the Emeralds… Venice took them away from there, and I have them now, though. How bad is that?” he informed Amy. The long silence that followed his question told him it was probably very bad indeed.</p><p>“W-well, we don’t know how long they had been powering that bomb, nor do we know anything about how it<em> works</em>…” Amy stuttered, before Tails’ voice overtook hers. “It would have been at its strongest if the Emeralds were still in there, but even without them it will still be a formidable blast! Get out of there as quickly as you can!”</p><p>“Roger!” Focusing all his attention on flying, Silver’s nearly jumped out of his skin at Eggman’s roar of anger, tumbling a few meters down as his concentration plummeted and Venice shrieked again.</p><p>“WHERE ARE THE EMERALDS?!”</p><p>Silver sneeringly laughed at that, returning to his rapid flight. “Too slow, Eggman!” he taunted the air, knowing the man most likely couldn’t even hear him. Still, it felt good. Venice evidently felt less good, judging by the face of utter trauma he was pulling as the ship became smaller behind them.</p><p>Despite this setback, Eggman was clearly determined not to give up. Silver fought the urge to roll his eyes as the yelling over the intercom continued. “No matter! Even without them, this bomb is still powerful enough to wipe you clean off the face of the <em>planet!</em> Take THIS!”</p><p>Checking in front of him to see if there was anything in the way, Silver turned around and flew backwards so they could see what was going to happen. The ship was about the size of a fist held in front of his face now, and diminishing in size steadily. He prayed it would be enough as he clutched Venice closer, who had tightly closed his eyes and was holding onto his shoulders so strongly Silver feared he would break a bone.</p><p>“Over there!” Silver gasped as he saw something be dropped from underneath the ship. Venice opened his eyes as the exclamation, tears brimming in the corners. “E-Eggman said it would home in on S-Sonic ‘cause of… ‘cause of his his Chaos energies…” he whimpered.</p><p>…Oh. <em>Crud.</em></p><p>Risking one glance behind him Silver saw the Restoration shuttle as a small dot further away. They were right in the trajectory of the bomb, that was about to set off towards the Blue Blur. With the unique power of the Emeralds, that bomb would surely be able to make its way towards Sonic wherever he was on the planet…! But he noticed something odd about the thing. Neither he nor Venice dared make a noise as they watched it tumble… and tumble… and tumble…</p><p>Wordlessly they witnessed the bomb become a smaller and smaller dot on their vision, before it hit the ground with a barely noticeable crash. “Uh…” Silver muttered, flabbergasted, as he lifted his hand to the intercom piece in his ear. “Guys, I think it was a dud.”</p><p>He had barely finished the sentence before the ground <em>exploded</em> and a massive fireball rose up from where the bomb had landed, the resulting disarray causing many of the volcanoes to explode as well. Silver was just in time with throwing up a psychic shield, protecting him and Venice against most of the shockwave. He screamed in pain when his mind was struck by the force of the explosion, stars dancing in front of his eyes and ears ringing. Venice’s cry of “Silver!” was the only thing keeping him somewhat aware. Whole body trembling, darkness swimming through his vision with every passing moment, he could barely concentrate enough to keep floating in the air.</p><p>His intercom was going insane with the cries of his friends, but he didn’t know how to respond to anything other than his focus to keep himself up in the air. At least Venice was screaming too, so they would know they had survived the explosion. Every noise sounded very distant, as if he was listening to it with his ears fully clogged. He had no idea how much time they spent just hanging there, his concentration almost fully in shambles and the only thought in his head that they <em>needed </em>to stay there, otherwise they were going to drop to the ground and die. There was something frantically humming in his chest, something warm and familiar, but what was it?</p><p>Vaguely he was aware of something in front of him… something blue? The load he was carrying in his arms – it was someone important, so very important, but why? – suddenly was taken away, though the only way he could react was with an incoherent mumble. He thought he could feel himself be grabbed as well, tucked against something peach and purple. But maybe that was just his imagination as his attention faltered. With his awareness quickly fading his head lolled back, and his mind went empty as vision turned to black fully.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My boys live!! No-one is surprised, haha!</p><p>I had originally planned a whole battle sequence with Eggman, but it turned out to be too difficult to write and resulted in too many plotholes, so I had to cut it. Just imagine Eggman placed his control unit for his armada in a different room than the control unit for his hyper bomb, because the plot demands it. A learning moment for me! Actually this whole chapter is filled with incomprehensible shit, at least I think so, so I'll have to do some cleanup in later chapters. Bear with me!</p><p>I keep ending these with people fainting or falling asleep but it’s such a nice way to end a chapter! I keep adding words otherwise to get the true Drop The Mic feel!</p><p>I’m uploading this now since Age of Calamity releases in approximately 2.5 hours so y’all won’t be hearing from me for a while, I’m afraid! There will be more in the future!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17: Reunited</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Perhaps being a bit different isn’t so bad if you have friends supporting you.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Holding Venice firmly against his chest, Sonic raced through the air with Espio at his side. When Silver hadn’t responded to their calls they both instantly had grabbed an Extreme Gear from the shuttle and rushed back to the battlefield to find the psychics. Much closer to Eggman’s ship than he would have liked Silver had been floating into the air, bleakly staring in front of him and entirely unresponsive as Venice tried to get his attention, panicking. Bringing in the airboard as close as possible Sonic had easily taken him from Silver’s weak grip, and Espio had taken the darker grey hedgehog in his arms as they turned around and went back to their shuttle.</p><p>Sonic dared risk a glance behind him. On the ground where the bomb had gone off there was a huge crater, the ground cracked and broken beyond repair. The volcanoes were all erupting, filling the sky with their toxic black smoke and flicks of lava. The smaller fleet that had made up most of the armada had been torn apart completely by the sheer force, their demise leaving behind an empty sky that was quickly getting filled by fumes and soot. Eggman’s main ship had been heavily damaged, judging by the fires and deep black plumes of smoke rising from it. The fact that it was still flying at all attested to the genius of the man who created it.</p><p>Turning his attention back to where he was flying himself, Sonic shook his head. There was no doubt in his mind that Eggman had survived this setback and was already plotting his next moves, for sure irate that also this plan had been foiled. He looked at the unexpected hero of the day, who was sobbing in his arms as he clutched his coat. Sonic tried to mumble gentle words to comfort him, but Venice truly was inconsolable, whimpering Silver’s name as he weakly tried to get himself out of Sonic’s grip. The psychic had passed out the moment Espio had lifted him up, but the chameleon assured them that he was breathing steadily. They really had been just in time.</p><p>“This area is getting more unstable as we speak! Hurry, we <em>need </em>to get out of here!” Tails spoke worriedly over the intercom. “Almost there,” Sonic retorted tersely. Flying as fast as they could, the speedster easily foiling Venice’s desperate yet fruitless attempts to break free, he and Espio rushed towards the hatch and carefully entered the shuttle. The moment they were safely inside Tails set off, leaving behind the utterly annihilated area and Eggman’s ship as they retreated.</p><p>“<em>Oh</em>, no,” Amy fretted as she rushed over to Silver, who was still in Espio’s grasp. Now that they were no longer flying and he had a moment to focus, he could see the unnerving grey on both Silver’s and Venice’s hands where there should have been a glowing teal colour instead. Clearly both of them had utterly exhausted their powers, though it didn’t come as a surprise to him in the slightest.</p><p> Sonic tried to place Venice down on his feet as well, but the terrified psychic immediately buckled through them, limp as a ragdoll. Despite the fact that his legs seemed unable to cooperate he still weakly struggled to get to Silver. Sonic clumsily lifted him away to sit against the wall, sliding down next to him and wrapping an arm around his shoulder.</p><p>“There’s little point in placing him in the medbay on the shuttle,” he heard Espio and Amy discuss. “As far as I can see, he’s stable with few physical injuries. I propose we just keep him steady until we’re back at HQ and give him more adequate treatment there.” With Amy’s greenlight, Espio came over as well, peacefully setting himself down on the ground with Silver curled up in his lap with his head against the ninja’s shoulder. At the full sight of his friend Venice’s sobs only increased more. He futilely reached out towards Silver and shook him a little, but the hedgehog didn’t respond at all.</p><p>“He’s going to be fine,” Espio spoke calmly, tranquillity coming off of him in waves. Sonic doubted Venice truly believed him, but after taking Espio in for a good few moments the ivory psychic settled down a bit less stressfully against the wall. They sat in silence, the chameleon with his eyes closed and hand around Silver’s wrist and Sonic keeping half an eye on Venice and the other on the knocked-out hedgehog. He tried to scratch the other behind his ear like he knew Silver often did, but Venice flinched away from his touch the moment his fingers travelled up there. He still hadn’t taken his intense stare off of Silver, so Sonic decided to let him be for now.</p><p>The trip back to the HQ was uneventful, everyone talking quietly among themselves as Tails brought them back home. They had nearly died, Sonic realised. If it hadn’t been for Venice removing the Emeralds, the sheer power of the gem-fuelled bomb would surely have blown them all to smithereens back there. Frowning, he let his thoughts wander. Silver had described Frozen City as… well, frozen. He had also said that he had been unable to find any of the magical gems in the now-undone timeline. Was there perhaps a relation between what had happened today and the ruination of the future? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time his actions subverted a tragedy.</p><p>He’d discuss that with Tails later, Sonic decided as the sky coloured golden with the arising dawn. Landing at the HQ without a hitch, he and Espio set off to the medbay with the two psychics and Amy, while the rest of the Chaotix set off to bed. None of them had had a single moment to rest, and Sonic fell sleepiness swim behind his eyelids. Venice seemed to be jumping around all over the place, no doubt still fuelled entirely by adrenalin due to the day’s affairs. Sonic struggled to keep a firm grip on his upper arm, trying to prevent the other from rushing over to Silver. Espio seemed as composed as always, but Amy looked exhausted too, judging by the dark purple bags under her eyes. Still, it had absolutely been worth it, Sonic determined with a small smile as Espio carefully laid their resting friend in a bed.</p><p>“He’s not injured physically, so I’m afraid there is little we can do for him,” the ninja murmured as Amy carefully tucked Silver under the sheaths and ran her hand over his quills. The hedgehog scrunched up his nose and flicked his ears in his sleep, making the three friends laugh a little. Yes, he’d be fine. Venice, freeing himself from the grasp Sonic had on him the moment the blue hedgehog got distracted, clambered up on the bed and shot under the covers. Judging by the shape formed underneath the cloth Sonic could see he had curled himself against Silver’s chest, his head right on top of the resting psychic’s heart.   </p><p>“You rest too, okay? If there is anything, just call for me,” Amy told the lump as she smoothened out the disturbed bedding.</p><p>“…Okay,” Venice responded very quietly, which was followed by the noise of a huge yawn and then silence. Tiptoeing over the head of the bed and peeking underneath the covers, Sonic saw that he had already fallen fast asleep. Amy giggled softly and Sonic grinned, while Espio appeared to be feeling surprisingly affectionate. They snuck out of the room without a noise, letting the resting psychics be for a while.</p><p>---</p><p>Venice lavishly stretched out his muscles, ears flicking lazily as they were stroked by the rays of the afternoon sun. It had been two days since their brush with death, and everything had gone mostly back to normal. Both he and Silver were still contained to the medical bay to recover physically and mentally, to the dark grey hedgehog’s great disdain. Amy had forbidden him from going out or using his powers until they knew for sure that he had fully healed them, though Silver seemed determined to be stubborn about that. Venice had quickly figured out a way to keep his complaining friend under control, to his great delight and Silver’s faked contempt. When the latter got difficult the psychic would simply flop himself fully on Silver’s stomach and refuse to budge, giving the other no chance to do anything but obey. The mental image of Silver’s face, split evenly between affection, indignation and aggrievement as he was forced to lie there and give his friend cuddles, made Venice snicker even in his drowsy state.</p><p>Unfortunately Silver had easily figured out a way to foil his genius, namely by gently digging his fingers into Venice’s sides until the other was forced to jump up with a squeal of laughter. As the giggling psychic scampered away to get rid of the feeling it gave him enough time to escape and for Venice to give chase, both of them running around the medbay like maniacs until one of them tired out and they returned to bed for a nap. Right now they had compromised, Silver laying on his back and Venice using his torso to prop up his head, and they were both idly dozing. If he could spend every moment like this, just lazing around and having fun with Silver at his side and few worries looming on the horizon, he would without hesitation. As long as the days were harmonious, he could pretend the nightmares that plagued him as he slept and the fear that crippled his entire body every time he was left alone in a room were non-existent, mere phantoms made up by his mind to torture him further. But still, he knew that the time traveller would be itching to go back to his own era after this. He had already decided to cherish the moment of relative peace he experienced right now, and see what life had in store later.</p><p>Body heavy and limp as he dozed, mind flicking in and out of consciousness and purrs rumbling in his chest, his reverie was interrupted when quiet footsteps made their way over to him. Fingers gently trailed over his hand and he tiredly opened an eye, fixing whoever was daring to interrupt his nap with a sleepy glare. Sonic stared back, hanging an inch in front of his eyes with his usual smirk on his face as he shook Venice a little more forcefully. “Wake up, you sleepyhead,” he chuckled as Venice closed his eyes again and unsuccessfully tried to block him out.  </p><p>Silver fared no better, also brusquely and cruelly getting woken up by Sonic’s prodding and none the happier about it either. “I have great news,” Sonic proclaimed as he lifted himself up on the bed as well, taking in most of the available space at their feet and pointedly ignoring the scowls the two psychics sent his way. He lifted the Miles Electric he was carrying a little. “The results of your DNA test came back,” he informed them with a wink.</p><p>“Ooh!” With that, Silver was awake instantly, scrambling up to sit next to Sonic and watch the screen. “What did they find?!”</p><p>While Silver’s sour mood has dissipated instantly and been replaced with intrigue, Venice didn’t share his enthusiasm in the slightest. Feeling quite antsy with the unanticipated news, he curled in on himself a bit more, raising one ear so he could hear what they were talking about while staring intently at the sole of Sonic’s shoe near his face.</p><p>“So basically, Silver’s genetic makeup is pretty much entirely of a hedgehog,” Sonic began his explanation, moving his finger over the screen Venice couldn’t see. “There is a bit more genetic variation between you and the data we have on anthropomorphic hedgehogs in this era, but Tails say it’s because you’re from the future. Something about mutations and changes over time, I dunno. Never once was someone for genetics.”</p><p>“You’ve truly come in here prepared,” Silver deadpanned, snickering at the mock-hurt face Sonic pulled. The blue hedgehog put the back of the hand to his face in a sweeping gesture. “Forgive me…! I’ve never been to school, but Tails said I had to tell you since Venice trusts me more,” the speedster dramatically explained as he swayed back on the bed. Well, Venice liked Tails too, but he did indeed feel more comfortable around the Blue Blur.</p><p>Silver prodded Sonic with his elbow. “I wanna hear about Venice now!” he urged the other, who had to laugh at his impatience. “Alright, alright,” Sonic complied as he settled on the bed more comfortably and looked at Venice, who stared up at him.</p><p>“So, I don’t know if Silver has told you this yet, but we suspected that you are a hybrid.”</p><p>“I know,” Venice muttered back softly, shifting his gaze away to look anywhere but the two hedgehogs sitting on the bed. He really wasn’t sure if he even wanted to hear this.</p><p>Sonic did not comment on his apprehension, turning his attention to the screen as he used his finger to scroll over it. “As it turns out, we were right. The test said that you’re a hybrid between a hedgehog and a mink.”</p><p>A long silence stretched after that, in which Venice mostly watched the floor. Surprisingly, his head was entirely void of thought, unable to focus on anything as he stared, and stared, and couldn’t move. He didn’t really know what he had been expecting, or even what he had wanted it to be. With everything that had been going on for the past three days he had completely forgotten about the conversation he had overheard. Considering how weird everyone acted about hybrids, maybe he had secretly hoped Sonic and Tails were wrong and he was a hedgehog after all. A small rustle caught him by surprise and made his ear flick, only for them to fall flat against his head as Silver curled up around him. With his friend’s arms around his torso Venice sucked in a shaky breath. “…Oh,” was all he could manage to bring out.</p><p>Sonic laughed at his tame reaction, shifting closer as well to ruffle him over his quills. “Tails and I already did tons of research on minks, and we found so many cool things! Ya wanna hear it?” he inquired with a wink.</p><p>“I sure do!” Silver responded enthusiastically as he nuzzled into Venice a bit more. Sonic laid down on Venice’s other side and lifted the Miles Electric in the air in such a way that all three of them could see it (“Don’t drop that on your face, I can’t save you,” Silver muttered with an eyeroll), scrolling through pages and pages of pictures and words he couldn’t read. Still, Venice relaxed the more Sonic told him, finding many similarities between himself and the minks in the picture. They all had his rounded ears and long tail, and general silky fur combined with fluffiness. But he looked like a hedgehog too, especially with the quills on his forehead. All three of them had to laugh when they found out his tail was as pointy as a hedgehog’s and as long as a mink’s. One thing that surprised him was how all the minks in the pictures had eyes like Sonic and Silver, while his were split up. After nervously bringing up that topic, Silver came to the conclusion that it was caused through his powers, and they left it at that.  </p><p>“Huh, apparently minks are semi-aquatic,” Sonic noted as he read some small text underneath a picture of a river. ”That means they live partially in water… Oh, and they’re fond of seafood!” he explained at Venice’s confused glance. The hybrid could have sworn he heard Silver mutter something about Sonic nearly letting him drown once as he pulled Venice a bit closer, but other than a guilty-looking grin the Blue Blur didn’t react to it. Swimming <em>had </em>been easy, certainly more easy that curling into a ball. He would like to try that again sometime.</p><p>Eventually, as the sun sunk further into the horizon and the light in the medbay turned more orange with every passing minute, even Sonic ran out of things to talk about. With no-one chatting at the moment, Venice contemplated everything he had heard as he stared at the flickering light on the ceiling, his head resting against Silver’s chest. None of them had judged, they had all been immensely supportive and answered all his questions, but he had also heard Silver say that it was impossible for hybrids to exist. Yet, he existed anyway, with no idea where he came from or how that was possible. “But… what now?” he blurted out unexpectedly, shattering the peaceful silence in the room.</p><p>Sonic looked at him from where he was sitting, tipping his head a bit sideways. “Yeah, <em>what </em>now?” he asked playfully. Venice frowned at him, not sharing his upbeat mood in the slightest. “Like… what now about this?” he asked, vaguely gesturing to himself. What in the world was he supposed to do with this information? How would other people react if they found out?</p><p>“Ah.” Sonic’s gaze turned softer at that. “Well, for starters, you’re still <em>you</em>, right? You’re still Venice.” The hybrid had to mull over that a little, ears flicking. It was true, he was indeed still Venice, but at the same time it felt as if there was something that had irrevocably changed about him. He was the same person he was before but there was also something different about him… although, maybe that difference fitted him better than what he had been before? Now that he knew more about minks, it did feel right that he was at least partially one. But being part hedgehog felt right, too. Not entirely sure how to respond to Sonic, he simply shrugged.</p><p>Silver wrapped his arms around him from behind and rocked him. “If you don’t know, then you need to find out somehow,” he added. “There will be tons of things you’ll like and are good at, because you’re part hedgehog and part mink. Why don’t you try to see if you can find any?”</p><p>Venice gulped at the unexpected idea. “You’ll be there too, right?” he asked timidly. The world was very big and daunting, and he had no idea where to even begin looking. Silver always knew what to do… surely he’d know this time as well. “Of course,” his friend promised him, and he breathed a deep sigh of relief as he leaned against him a bit more deeply.  </p><p>“Speaking of trying new things, I’m starving,” Sonic dramatically exclaimed as he jumped from the bed. “We can go to the kitchen and grab ourselves a feast! And Venice can try some things and see what he likes, too!” The edges of his mouth curled upwards, and he flicked one ear playfully. “Technically neither of you are allowed to get out of here yet, but if we’re sneaky…” Venice had to laugh at the mischievous grin that had etched itself right onto Sonic’s muzzle.</p><p>With an overly-exaggerated sigh Silver got up too, hoisting himself onto the ground as well. “You’re setting a bad example for Venice,” he bemoaned, not coming across as serious in the slightest. Grabbing the hand that was stretched out to him Venice got up last, giving it a gentle squeeze as they tiptoed to the door and into the hallway. He would be brave and face this new challenge with courage, and try to make the best out of it. As long as he had his supportive friends at his side, maybe being a bit different wasn’t so bad after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am DROWNING in stress ngl but writing this helped me calm down a lot</p><p>*dives into the notes of all the genetics classes I have taken to provide y’all with only the truest information on genetics and the like, also does extensive research on minks* Imagine my surprise when I found out they live near water!  I always considered them too floofy for a water habitat, but I guess I was wrong! </p><p>So, this is somewhat based on something that happened to me in my own life recently, but I only realised that after I had written a large chunk of it already. As such, this chapter resonates with me a lot! I hope I portrayed Venice well!</p><p>As it stands I have NO idea how many more chapters I'm going to add to this... there are quite a few plot threads I need to resolve, but the finale is already fully written. Expect the last part of this fic to be about 95% fluff and 5% angst!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18: Midnight Musings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Midnight is always the best time for long, semi-serious talks and realisations.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Despite the late hour, Silver could tell Venice was still awake as they snuggled together in the darkened room. Their attempts at being stealthy had been for naught and Amy had run into them basically the moment they had entered the kitchen, lovingly scolding them about their irresponsibility as she and Sonic prepared the most delicious snacks and bites. Venice’s eyes had shone and he had thrown himself into tasting everything with unwavering enthusiasm, at least until Amy had brought them back the medbay and made them brush their teeth before tucking them in. His friend had become completely silent as they laid down to go to sleep, wide awake and breath shallow as he fiddled with his hands. Though not sure what was exactly on his mind Silver knew that if Venice wanted them to talk he would eventually take the initiative, so he waited patiently for the other to start speaking.</p><p>He didn’t have to wait long. “Hey, Silver?” a tiny voice piped up from next to him, near his chest. “Are you still awake?”</p><p>Moving his hands to stroke Venice’s quills he nuzzled the other’s forehead. “I am,” he assured him.</p><p>“…I can’t sleep.”</p><p>“Thought so.” With a chuckle Silver reached over to the nightstand, switching on the tiny nightlight Tails had given to them. As its soft yellow glow filled the room he could make out Venice’s features, taking in the other’s wide eyes and scared face as he peeked up to him.</p><p>Venice crawled closer, pushing his face into Silver’s chest fur fully. “I keep having nightmares,” he whimpered as Silver calmingly scratched him behind an ear. “About that man, and before…” He took a shuddering breath as his hands grasped Silver’s fluff. “Sometimes I die, sometimes you… Or we both fall to the ground before Sonic can reach us… Or I need to save you from getting captured and I fail, or instead of <em>them </em>it’s that man who’s hurting me, or you…”</p><p>“Vennie.” Carefully slipping a hand underneath the other’s chin he lifted up his face so they could see each other eye-to-eye. “Knowing this won’t make your dreams disappear, but they’re not real. You and I are right here, and you’re safe.”</p><p>Venice’s lips trembled as Silver stroked his cheek with his thumb. “I’m <em>scared</em>… I just want them to go <em>away</em>…”</p><p>Silver felt a stab of pity go through his heart at the tearful exclamation. If he could somehow clear Venice’s mind and give him some relief he would without hesitation, but what could he possibly do to help him, other than being there and giving support? “The memories will fade away with time,” he murmured softly as his hands continued their petting. “They won’t ever leave completely, but eventually they’ll find a place, and you’ll have peace.”</p><p>With a shudder Venice pressed himself against Silver more, burying his nose underneath Silver’s chin. Despite that, Silver could feel his breath had calmed a little bit. After spending some time in silence, the hybrid unexpectedly started talking again. “I think I can be okay with being both a hedgehog and a mink,” he murmured as his hands played around with a tuft of Silver’s fur. “It’s not as weird as I thought it would be.”</p><p>The statement brought Silver huge reprieve. He had seen Venice’s fearful reaction when Sonic had burst in with the news, how utterly unresponsive he had been once they had told him what they had found out. “I’m glad to hear it,” he assured the hybrid with a small smile. “Like Sonic said, you’re still Venice. It just has a name now.”</p><p>As he said the words he felt a jolt go through his body. There was something that had crossed his mind a while ago, when Venice had been sleeping and he had quietly been studying the ceiling as to not wake him. PK-HMH, Venice had said his name was when they first met. He knew PK stood for psychokinesis, which would make sense considering their similar psychic powers. But HMH…</p><p>“Do you remember when you told me your name was PK-HMH, back in Frozen City?” he asked Venice, taking note of how his body went entirely rigid the moment the other’s former name left his mouth. The other psychic nodded guardedly. “I know PK is an abbreviation of psychokinesis, but do you think HMH stands for… hedgehog mink hybrid?”</p><p>Venice fiddled with his gloves a few moments before answering, not looking Silver in the eye. “I suppose that makes sense…” he muttered softly. Silver couldn’t tell what was on his mind, but he doubted it was anything good as he took in the other’s unnerving glare aimed at his shoulder.</p><p>Quickly going over his options, Silver gently tugged one of Venice’s ears to get his attention. He countered the angry scowl of the other with a gentle look of his own. “I think you’d like it best if this is also the last time we talk about your old name, right?”</p><p>Venice’s glare wavered a little before it grew more sad. “I never want to think of it again,” he responded quietly, dropping his gaze.</p><p>“Then I won’t bring it up again.” Silver knew for sure that it wouldn’t be so easy for Venice to make peace with what had happened to him, but it was the least he could do for his friend.  </p><p>With a barely-present smile the psychic cuddled closer against him. “I appreciate that.”</p><p>Despite being glad that Venice felt at least a little bit better, Silver sighed anyway. He couldn’t take away the pain of Venice’s past, but he had sworn to take care of him from the moment they had met! The hybrid would have been spared so much trouble and fear if he had just put his foot down and made them go back to HQ to drop him off before going to fight in the forest…</p><p>“I need to apologise to you,” he murmured as he stroked the other’s quills. Venice raised an eyebrow as he angled his head to bump his nose into Silver’s cheek. “What for? You didn’t do anything wrong.”</p><p>Silver sighed more deeply, he was quite certain that Venice wouldn’t agree with what he was about to say. “If I had been more firm with Sonic and didn’t take you to the battle you wouldn’t have been captured, and then you would have been spared all this grief,” he elaborated as he glanced away from Venice’s eyes.</p><p>Venice’s eyes widened at the statement. “That’s not…!” He scrambled up, painfully leaning with his hands on Silver’s shoulders as he hung over him. “He would have captured <em>you</em>! I didn’t want him to capture you!”   </p><p>“You were frightened! What if we had been too late and Eggman had hurt you?!” Silver shot back, grimacing from the weight of Venice pressing down on his body.</p><p>Venice seemed to deflate a little at that. “But you weren’t,” he whispered as he flopped down fully onto Silver, who had to grunt from the force. Silence settled after that, Silver’s breaths more laboured due to the literal and figurative weight on his chest and Venice shifting around uncomfortably.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking…” his friend piped up unexpectedly. “That man seemed really surprised how quickly you came to rescue me. And the bomb… I don’t think it worked how it was supposed to.”</p><p>“Unless Eggy wanted to start a career in terraforming, it probably did not.” Heart feeling a bit lighter, Silver mulled over the battle once again. For a bomb powered by the seven Chaos Emeralds, the explosion had honestly seemed kind of weak. He ignored the itching of the grey marks on his hands and the near-emptiness in his mind where he could usually feel his powers as the thought crossed his mind. “Maybe Eggman hadn’t been able to charge that thing enough with the Emeralds because you took them away too soon?” he mused out loud. “But then, what would have happened if…”</p><p>“<em>Silver</em>.” Venice interrupted him as he sat up and crossed his arms with a pout, clearly trying to look as scoldingly and reproachful as Silver himself did sometimes and failing horribly. “You weren’t too late and everything turned out alright. Stop thinking about everything that <em>could</em> have gone wrong but <em>didn’t</em>.”</p><p>Deciding not to tell Venice that his act was more adorable than it was effective, Silver nodded obediently as he tried to suppress a smile. “I just worry,” he said instead.</p><p>“You’re a time traveler, you can easily just change things when you don’t like how they turned out,” Venice retorted as he puffed up his chest. Before Silver could tell him that that <em>really </em>wasn’t how things worked, the hybrid’s eyes lit up instead. “Hey! Do you think the future is safe now?”</p><p>Surprised, Silver felt a stab go through his heart at the innocent question. He had been so preoccupied with Venice, he had entirely forgotten about his mission! Although… he knew this wasn’t the first time he had potentially changed something without being aware of it. Still, despite his attempts to remain optimistic about his plight, it had never made anything better. There was always just something else that went wrong…</p><p>“Why would it be?” he inquired as he pushed away his negative thoughts. He had to remain hopeful that things would go right!</p><p>Venice flopped down on his back next to him. “You said you couldn’t find any Chaos Emeralds in Frozen City, right?” Silver tentatively nodded, not sure where this was going. “We know that Eggman didn’t count on you showing up so soon, and that bomb was a bust because the Emeralds were removed from them before it could reach its full power!” Silver grew more troubled as Venice continued his chatting, his shining eyes a stark contrast to the dark storm clouds they had contained only moments prior. “So, <em>what if </em>the bomb was supposed get too powerful and destroyed the Emeralds, but that didn’t happen because you intervened in time?”</p><p>Glancing up at the ceiling, Silver frowned as he pondered the theory of his enthusiastic friend. If Eggman hadn’t captured Venice, then they most likely would have had no reason to look into his bases, nor would they have taken the fight to him… And without the hybrid, that bomb would have been powered by the Emeralds for as long as it took Eggman to set up another trap and lure them there. The Emeralds were needed to maintain the balance of the world, so what would happen if they were to be destroyed by their own might? His mind drifted to everything he had learned about climate and the Earth as he did research in the sun-less, snowy Frozen City with no inhabitants. All those volcanoes that had erupted at the battlefield… the Chaos balance of the world disrupted with the Emeralds gone…</p><p>“I think you raise a good point,” he complimented Venice. He didn’t dare hope, but… What if the disaster had been subverted? What if Frozen City was no more? An unexpected thought crossed his mind, and he beamed brightly at the realisation. “And that would mean that <em>you’re </em>the one who saved us, Vennie!” He had to laugh at how unexpectedly taken aback Venice looked. “If you hadn’t been there to take away the Emeralds, who knows what would have happened with that bomb?”</p><p>“Ah…” Clearly Venice hadn’t thought about this, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head with his hand as he glanced away. Though it was hard to see in the dimly-lit room Silver could have sworn he was blushing furiously. “I-I <em>guess</em>…”</p><p>The idea made more sense to him with every passing moment. With a laugh, an actual laugh this time, he wrapped his arms around Venice and pulled him into a fierce hug. “No, don’t be modest! You saved everyone!” Venice giggled and squirmed around as he pressed a multitude of pecks and kisses against his forehead, unable to escape the ticklish onslaught due to Silver’s arms that were still tightly wrapped around him. “Okay, okay! Maybe!”</p><p>Lowering Venice more comfortably against him, Silver couldn’t suppress the purrs that were rising from his chest. Another disaster had been subverted, and the world was safe for at least a little while. He could worry about going back to the future in the morning, after a good night’s rest. With a final scratch aimed at Venice's ears he settled more comfortably under the blankets and prepared to go to sleep.</p><p>With his eyes closed he had almost drifted off again before he felt Venice poke his forehead with a finger. “I want to ask something,” the other whispered as he tiredly opened his eyes again, blearily looking at his companion. “What are you planning to do now?”</p><p>“Uh, well… Usually I just go back to the future, find it in a different state of disarray, try to find the cause with varying success, and then go back and do some things in the present to subvert it,” the hedgehog yawned, flicking an ear.</p><p>“Why don’t you just stay here forever, then? All your friends are here, and you’re happy!” Silver sputtered at the question, sleep forgotten in seconds.</p><p>“I can’t do that!” he protested as Venice fixed him with a flat glare. “I belong in the future, not in this era! Who <em>knows</em> what will happen if I messed with the balance of the world like that?”</p><p>He knew he had made a mistake when a grin unfolded itself on Venice’s face. “If that’s the case, you also wouldn’t be allowed to travel back in time in the first place, no?” his companion asked smugly. Silver opened his mouth, then closed it again when he realised he did not have a solid way to retort to that statement. “I <em>need</em> to, otherwise I won’t know what went wrong and I can’t focus on changing it!”</p><p>Venice flicked an ear as well, clearly not impressed by his defense. “Hm,” was the only thing he said as he snuggled closer into Silver. The latter quickly changed the topic, deciding he didn’t want to put any more thought into this. “What are <em>you </em>going to do, Venice?”</p><p>As quickly as the smug attitude had come it disappeared again, and Venice buried his face into Silver’s fluff fully as he mumbled some things the hedgehog couldn’t make out. Remembering Venice’s fear of being left behind in Frozen City, Silver rushed to comfort him. “I would love it if you came with me, but if you want to stay in the past with the Restoration, then please feel free to,” the hedgehog assured him gently. “You don’t need to travel with me to every forsaken, ruined future if you feel safer here.”</p><p>He was surprised when his friend lifted up his head from the comfy cover and firmly shook it. “This world is beautiful… And Sonic and Amy are so nice, and Tails is too, but…” Venice took a very deep breath, and this time Silver could easily feel the heat that radiated from his reddened cheeks. “If anything, I belong with you.”</p><p>Gently Silver stroked the other over his stubborn quills, the huge smile on his face giving away how touched he felt by the other’s commitment. “I’d be happy to have you,” he told Venice as he pulled him closer and nuzzled their noses together.</p><p>Anything Venice wanted to say in response got interrupted by the huge yawn that slipped past his lips. With a laugh Silver wrapped himself around his exhausted friend fully. “We can only leave in a handful of days anyway, our powers still need to recover,” he mused as Venice got bundled up against him with a purr. “And don’t worry about the nightmares. I’m right here, and I’ll leave the nightlight on so the dark is not scary.”</p><p>After whispering a good night to each other they both quickly drifted off to sleep, though not before Silver took a moment to thank whoever was out there for gifting him such an amazing friend to care for. As long as he looked after Venice and Venice looked after him, he knew in the end they’d both be just fine.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I can't believe it's been a week since I wrote for Belong! My apologies, I was really busy with university!</p><p>So, I used this chapter to hopefully clean up most hanging plot threads. The future might be safe...! except, knowing Silver, it probably is not. Poor hedgie!</p><p>I hope I was able to explain Eggman's ploy well, but honestly it's not really solidly written imo. Well, with some suspension of disbelief it mostly works! </p><p>Next chapter might actually be the final one!! I have already for 99% finished the Very Final Scene, but I want to get in Sonic and the rest of the squad one more time. No idea when I will be updating though! For now, have a great rest of your day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19: Brothers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's time.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next few days went by peacefully. Under the watchful eye and encouragement of the Restoration both Silver and Venice recovered in no time, powers back as if they never had been exhausted in the first place. The psychic knew he and Silver would be leaving soon to an uncertain future, even though he did wish they could have stayed longer. It was for a good cause, he told himself. Besides, maybe the future really had been saved, and was now a wonderful paradise? They couldn’t know that if they stayed in the past forever, though Silver seemed unhappy at every mention Venice made to the possibility. He couldn’t tell what was on the other’s mind, though he was determined to find out before they left.</p><p>Two people had come over a while back, who Silver had called Rouge and Omega. They had stayed for tea and chatted with Silver and Amy. Venice had also been there, leaning against Silver’s side, though had been a bit too preoccupied with the ginormous murder robot that towered over him to pay attention to the conversation. The thing had behaved relatively well other than some disturbingly aggressive statements regarding Dr. Eggman and hadn’t tried to go after him or Silver, to his great relief. With some convincing Amy had made the hedgehog hand over one of the shiny Emeralds to Rouge, whose eyes had shone just as much as she took it in her hands with a grin. “You really do look like Silver,” she had told him cheerfully as Amy led them out, but he had had no idea know to respond and they had left him alone after that. He had made Silver cuddle with him extensively for the rest of the day to recover.</p><p>The other Emeralds had also found a place somewhere, one going to Tails’ workshop and all the others being spread out over the world to whoever needed them until Silver had only one left on his person. Sonic and Tails had said something about how the Emeralds must have saved Silver’s life when he and Venice got hit by the force of Eggman’s hyper bomb, but Venice had only been listening with half an ear. The psychic couldn’t really be bothered by the inner workings of Chaos energies and all the theories that Tails came up with; the Emeralds seemed much too powerful and dangerous to be near, especially if all seven were combined. It was fine with him this way, he decided on a lazy morning when groggily trying to fall back to sleep, though certain factors in his surroundings made that extensively difficult.</p><p>“Ve-enice,” a playful voice whispered in his ear, as it had been doing without fail for the past few minutes already. “You really need to get up now, you already missed breakfast.” The sings-song tone and the accompanying prodding in his sides made the hybrid frown annoyedly as his train of sleepy thought came to a grinding halt, though he tried to keep his face as straight as possible as to not show Silver he was awake. He wasn’t particularly hungry and from what he could tell the world outside his heavy covers was cold and chilly; he’d get up later. Silver seemed to have different ideas, though, and Venice flew up with a yowl as his blanket was ripped away from his grip and his body got assaulted by a gust of cold. His lunge at Silver to give back his warm haven was unsuccessful, and his friend gracefully flew out of his path with a laugh as he telekinetically moved the covers away further.</p><p>“See! That wasn’t so difficult!!” the hedgehog crooned victoriously as Venice clumsily landed himself on the ground with his powers. Puffing up his fur against the draft he grumbled as Silver smoothly placed the blankets back, snickering quietly to himself. Now that he was up and the bed most likely cold anyway, he might as well just face the day. Silver probably wouldn’t let him go back to sleep if he wanted to, he decided as he watched the other psychic float over the bed with a grin on his face and his arms crossed. His few clothing articles were put on easily enough, and he stretched out extensively before making his way to the door. When noticing Silver made no attempts to follow him he paused. “Are you coming?”</p><p>The smile fell from Silver’s as he grasped his arm with his hand, and Venice saw his good mood evaporate and be replaced by something more sombre and slightly tinted with guilt. “Actually… I would like to discuss something with you,” he said awkwardly. Venice raised an eyebrow at his unexpected shift in tone, before walking back and settling himself on the bed once again. Silver slowly dropped down and joined him, hunched in on himself and not looking the hybrid in the eyes.</p><p>“I’m listening,” Venice urged Silver as the other stayed quiet for a surprisingly long amount of time. With an odd cough Silver half-turned towards him, though he did nothing to sit up straighter. “I… was thinking of leaving the past. Right now, actually.”</p><p>Out of everything he could have said this particular bit Venice had not seem coming, and he gasped in surprise. “Really?” he asked enthusiastically, jumping up with a grin. Despite the hesitance Silver displayed every time the topic was brought up he had finally made up his mind! But then he faltered. “As in, <em>right now </em>right now?”</p><p>“Uh…” at the question Silver seemed to curl in on himself even more. “Well, not <em>right </em>now, but… soon. Today, preferably.” He swallowed thickly, and Venice got the feeling he was grasping his arm so tightly the bone was about to snap. “I… actually already said my goodbyes to everyone. Uh, it’s probably best you do too. Of course, if you… still want to…” He trailed off entirely, looking down at his knees.</p><p>“Silver!” Venice protested as he balled his fists and puffed up his quills. “I promised I’d go with you, and I stand by that!”</p><p>His declaration of loyalty did not seem to cheer Silver up as much as he had hoped it would. A tiny smile made its way on the psychic’s face, and it was brimming with sadness. “I appreciate that,” he sighed softly, before lifting himself off the bed as well and making his way to the door. “If you want to find the others, they’re most likely either in the kitchen or the communication hub,” he murmured as he grasped the door frame, still not looking at the psychic near the bed. “I’ll be checking all the things we’re gonna need one more time. Sonic will know where to find me.” And with that he was gone, not giving Venice any time to respond.</p><p>Flabbergasted the hybrid stared at the entrance of the room. What in the world was going <em>on </em>with Silver, he wondered as he slowly walked out as well. Hopefully Sonic and his friends could tell him, because it was driving him crazy. He’d make his way to the kitchen first and grab something to eat, he decided as he picked up his pace, if only to leave behind the dreary hallways of the building.</p><p>Only Tails was present in the room, fervently typing on a Miles Electric as odd blue papers were strewn about on the table and metal tools were littered on chairs. There was a curious collection of colourful wrappers within his reach, some opened. His ear twitched as Venice pushed open the door, and he looked up with a grin. “Hey, Venice!”</p><p>“Hullo,” the hybrid responded timidly. He still didn’t know exactly what to make of the fox cub, but so far he had only ever been nice to him. It was probably safe to stay in the room together, even if Silver wasn’t around to bail him out in case of trouble. Tails haphazardly shoved away some of the papers and metal objects to make space for him, gesturing at the chair standing next to his own. “Let’s hang out! What’s up?”</p><p>Very carefully Venice lowered himself into the chair, finger trailing over the teal mark on his hand as he pondered what to say. “We’re going to leave,” he blurted out.</p><p>Tails didn’t seem surprised by the news in the slightest, sympathetically shrugging as he handed one of the coloured wrappers to Venice, who undid it at the edges. It contained a white, somewhat sticky rock of sorts with green stripes on it. “Silver was here some time ago, and he said as much. He’s always trying so hard to save the future,” the genius agreed with him as he opened a wrapper himself and popped its contents in his mouth. Venice copied the movement and pulled a face at the sharp taste that assaulted his tongue, though it wasn’t necessarily gross.</p><p>“He keeps saying I’m free to stay here in the past, but I want to go with him,” the psychic muttered between the mouthful of sticky pebble in his mouth. Tails nodded thoughtfully.</p><p>“We’re always worried about Silver when he’s away, so it’s nice to know someone’s keeping an eye on things,” he pondered as he fiddled with the wrapper that was in his hands still. “He can be very reckless, especially when the fate of the world is at stake. It’s wise to have someone who can keep him in check.”</p><p>“And he could use the emotional support,” a voice sounded behind them. Venice nearly flew out of his chair from the shock with a squeal, a single pulse of psychokinesis sending all the blue papers and wrappers flying. Sonic quickly zipped past him and snatched the paperwork out of the air, placing it back on the table in less than a second. “Sorry! I thought you’d heard me enter.”</p><p>The sticky pebble had nearly ended up in his lungs as he had jumped up, and Venice coughed extensively to dislodge the thing. The hacking reminded him a bit too much of his plunge in the lake, which only made him gasp for breath more intensely. Tails slammed a hand on his back a couple of times and Sonic handed him a quickly-filled glass of water, which he gracefully took some sips from. “What do you mean?” he rasped once his heaving calmed down a little, getting pushed down in his chair again by Sonic.</p><p>“I presume you’ve noticed how down Silver gets whenever you mention the future around him?” the blue hedgehog asked as he lowered himself in a chair as well, looking contemplative. Venice nodded timidly. “Silver can get quite disheartened about the future… Not because of himself, though. He puts in <em>a lot </em>of effort, let me tell you!” Sonic explained with a chuckle, before he grew more solemn. “It pains him that even after all this time, his efforts have been for naught. At least, that’s how he sees it.”</p><p>Venice glanced at his hands that he was nervously fiddling with. “But… that’s not true, is it? He keeps subverting disasters… It can’t be his fault that each time something else goes wrong in the past!”</p><p>“It’s because there is no certainty when the world will truly be safe,” Tails chimed in, meticulously rolling the wrapper between his fingers now. “He’s done this dozens of times already, and every time one disaster is undone another takes its place. We can’t really help him; it’s up to him alone to clue together what happened and save us all yet another time. And then to find that each time it still wasn’t enough… It would wear down anyone, even someone as spirited as Silver.”</p><p>Venice’s ears drooped as he thought back to the midnight conversation he and Silver had had. The psychic had vehemently objected to simply staying in the past and trying to make things better from there, and with Sonic’s and Tails’ explanation it made more sense to him now. He felt his heart bleed for Silver, who kept fighting tirelessly to finally truly save the world he loved so much, despite the lack of any form of payoff. And even if he did manage to create a perfect future, what then? No-one from that era would know it was him who gave them their happiness, and he had said he couldn’t stay in the past out of fear of messing with timelines. Was Silver really doomed to live a life of unhappiness and unrecognition, no matter the final state of the world?</p><p>“Then I’ll try even harder to be there for him!” he blurted out unexpectedly as he was taken over by a wave of determination. If he could make even the slightest difference for Silver, assure him that everything would turn out okay in the end and he belonged somewhere and with someone, he would do so with no hesitation. Maybe he could make himself useful for Silver in such a way? Balance out his lack of fighting skills and survival knowledge with moral support?</p><p>Both Sonic and Tails beamed at him as he said that. “We’d be very grateful if you did,” Sonic assured him as he gently reached out to give his quills a ruffle, as he sometimes did with Silver too. Venice accepted the petting hand while pulling a face, though he didn’t object. The motion felt very gentle on his forehead anyway.</p><p> Tails nodded vigorously as he handed Venice another one of the sticky pebbles. “Thank you, Venice. Really.”</p><p>“Ah… ‘s No problem,” he murmured in response, feeling unexpectedly bashful because of Sonic’s and Tails’ happy reaction. He quickly unwrapped the pebble and shoved it in his mouth to give himself something to do. A loud grumble of his stomach made his frown as he glanced down, and both the hedgehog and the fox giggled.</p><p>“We missed you at breakfast, no wonder you’re hungry. Want me to make something for you?” Without waiting for an answer, the Blue Blur jumped up and began to rush through the kitchen like a whirlwind, haphazardly grabbing bowls and ingredients from the shelves. Venice sneezed as a white powder flew up from where Sonic enthusiastically poured it in one of the bowls, and Tails shook his head good-naturedly. “He’s always like this, it’s normal,” the fox assured the psychic.</p><p>The three settled in silence, Sonic occasionally humming as he prepared the food and Venice peeking over Tails’ shoulder as the genius wrote and drew things on his blue papers, though he had no idea what they could mean. Soon a delicious aroma spread through the kitchen, and the growling of Venice’s stomach only intensified as his nose twitched and mouth watered. He had no idea what Sonic was making, but he couldn’t wait to find out.</p><p>“Three portions of breakfast crepes for lunch, brought to life by yours truly!” With an elaborate bow Sonic held two plates out to them, and Tails chuckled as he placed one in front of Venice and the other in front of himself. Sonic raced towards his chair with a plate of his own, and with an “Enjoy!” the two friends began to eat. Studying them a little to see how he should tackle it Venice put a piece of the food in his mouth. His ears perked up and his eyes widened as the delicious flavour hit his tongue, and he happily cut off a bigger piece to shove in his mouth.</p><p>Sonic laughed at his enthusiastic reaction, munching away on his own portion. He and Tails chatted a little as their plates got more empty with every passing moment, though Venice was content to listen in peace. He’d miss them, he realised with a twinge of sadness in his heart. Sonic and Amy were always so kind, the former’s teases notwithstanding, and despite his earlier apprehension Tails had turned out to be nothing but friendly as well. He hoped he would be able to convince Silver to visit often, no matter what risk to the timeline it could potentially pose. Both of them could use the support of their friends.</p><p>“No, it’s <em>your</em> turn to do the dishes today!” Tails’ voice broke through his thoughts, and he looked up with an eyebrow raised. He saw that Tails had fluffed himself up to appear bigger, though it didn’t really succeed in making him look more threatening. Sonic for his part was grinning widely as he attempted to half-heartedly shove the three plates and cutlery into the fox’s balled hands. “Aww, can’t you do it <em>just</em> this once? Surely you can show some goodwill towards your <em>favourite</em> big brother?”</p><p>“This isn’t <em>just</em> this once, and you know it!” Tails shot back, though he took the plates out of Sonic’s hand with an eyeroll anyway. An indignant squeak followed as Sonic ruffled the tuft of fur on his forehead. “Thank, li’l bro! You’re the best!” the Blue Blur laughed happily as he plopped down on his chair again. Tails just grumbled some things in response that were too soft to be caught, but Venice could see he was smiling also.</p><p>Brother… He had heard the word before, he realised. Sonic had said he was Silver’s brother when they first met, though Silver had denied that. With the whole fuss the Blue Blur had raised about him and Silver looking so alike, brothers probably had to be pretty similar in appearance. But then why did Sonic and Tails look nothing like each other?</p><p>“May I ask something?” he asked Sonic, who had occupied himself with sunbathing in some rays of light coming in through the window. The speedster lazily hummed in response as he opened one of his eyes, which Venice took as a cue to continue. “What’s a brother?”</p><p>“Basically, two or more children from the same parents are called siblings, or brothers and sisters,” Tails piped up from the sink as he scrubbed the plates. “Together with their parents they form something called a family. Why are you asking?”</p><p>Venice stared at Sonic and slowly drifted his eyes over to Tails. No, they did not look alike in the slightest, not like he and Silver did. “Sonic thought Silver and I were brothers when we first met, though Silver said we aren’t,” he explained anyway, mulling over the new information. “Does that mean you and Sonic have the same parents, then?”</p><p>Sonic had to chuckle at that, and Venice tipped his head at the unexpected noise. “You don’t always have to be related by blood to be brothers. Tails and I call each other that because we have a closer bond than best friends. Nothing can get between us, not even the darkest night or the most fearsome storm. Whenever the other needs us, we are there for him in a heartbeat.”  </p><p>Bashfully Tails swished his namesakes around, and despite the fact that his back was turned towards them Venice though he could see both a smile and a blush form on his cheeks. “Love you, Sonic,” he mumbled as he meticulously dried the dishes. Sonic seemed entirely unfazed, grinning widely at his little brother’s shy reaction. “And I love you too, Tails.” Shaking his head a bit he turned towards Venice once more. “Did that answer your question?”</p><p>Venice murmured softly, though he was wracking his mind too much to really respond. Silver was always there for him when he needed him, fully prepared to drop everything and lend a hand no matter what he was doing prior or what time of day it was. If he needed his friend he’d only have to squeak, and the psychic would already be at his side to support him and care for him. He almost laughed out loud when thinking about how he had deemed it inevitable Silver would leave him behind in Frozen City. How silly he had been… And all the sacrifices Silver would make for him he would make back without hesitation, he knew. After everything the hedgehog had done for him he owed him that much, and… being around Silver, being <em>there</em> for Silver… it made him feel happy.</p><p>Planting his feet resolutely on the ground, Venice raised himself up from the chair. “It’s time to leave,” he announced, his words firmly echoing through the kitchen, though neither Sonic nor Tails seemed surprised by his unexpectedly strong demeanour.</p><p>“I’m working on a gadget that allows communication between time and space,” the fox told him as he stepped over and held out a hand towards Venice. “I don’t know yet when it will be finished, but rest assured that one day we’ll be able to talk to each other freely no matter where you and Silver are.”</p><p>The thoughtfulness of the genius made him smile, and he carefully shook the hand that was being held out to him. Not entirely sure what to say, he settled on a “Take care, Tails.” The fox simply beamed as they let go, and he stepped out of the way for Sonic, who had gotten up and sauntered over as well.</p><p>“You’ll want to say goodbye to Amy too, I presume?” Venice nodded vigorously as he followed Sonic towards the door. “She’s in the hub, as always. Really keeping herself busy, that one!” The Blue Blur smiled fondly at no-one in particular, and Venice had to suppress a giggle at Tails’ exaggerated eye-roll.</p><p>With a final goodbye to the genius fox he trailed Sonic our of the door and through the hallways, having to run in an awkward half-jog to keep up with the speedster’s fast pacing. Much quicker than it usually took him they were already in front of the automatically-moving door to the communication room. Also this time it slid open without any input, and he and Sonic stepped inside.</p><p>“You’re leaving.” It wasn’t a question from Amy, more of a statement. He nodded timidly as she walked over to him from the table where she had been working, wrapping her arms around him in a warm hug. “I’ll miss you two! Promise you’ll be careful, and look after our Silver?”</p><p>“Of course,” he responded as he wrapped his own arms around him as well. He’d miss her too, and her kindness and upbeat attitude. “Silver has your coat packed already, plus extra socks and gloves” she assured him as she quickly fidgeted a little with the cuffs around his wrists she had given to him, as if she didn’t want to let go of him yet. His ears drooped as he realised both him and Silver would be exempt from little things like this too when going to the future, except those they could give to each other.</p><p>For a split second he wondered if maybe it would be possible to convince Silver to stay here after all, in this wonderful era surrounded by people who loved them and cared for them at their side. The hope faded away near-instantly, though. Silver had already made up his mind and he had promised to follow, and if he had to follow the hedgehog to the future then so be it. He knew that, if given the choice between the past and Silver, he would always choose Silver.</p><p>His goodbyes to Amy were said much too quickly as well, and before Venice knew it he and Sonic had already left the Restoration Headquarters and Sunset City. This time Sonic was walking too, instead of zipping ahead with the psychic unable to keep up. He was grateful for the slower pace, using it to take in everything just a bit more intensely than usual. It would be the last time he would walk here for a while, he realised with pain in his heart.</p><p>The day was positively gorgeous, the sunrays stroking his cheeks and clouds lazily drifting by as they trotted next to the lake’s edge. The waters shimmered just as they had done the first time he had laid his eyes on them, a gentle breeze forming ripples in the pool of gold formed by the light. Despite the weather, the fields surrounding the town were surprisingly empty. Although being around too many people made him feel antsy, now the lack of them just made his heart hurt more. He thought he had known sadness when leaving behind their safe haven in Frozen City, but this felt a thousandfold worse. Sonic smiled at him sympathetically as he reached out to squeeze his shoulder. “You’ll miss this place, won’t you?”</p><p>“Yeah.” That answer was unsatisfactory, and he mulled a little over how to continue. “Everything’s so beautiful here, and you’re all so nice… I just wish Silver would want to stay, too.”</p><p>“Oh, but he does,” Sonic assured him as they stared up into the light blue sky. “It’s his sense of duty and justice that makes him throw himself over and over into the future and then the past again to subvert a disaster, without fail. It is… admirable, but as you can see it also has its drawbacks. Such as the heartache of having to leave behind those you care about, or not knowing where you truly belong.”</p><p>Venice sighed sadly, realising that he hadn’t really thought about what going back to the future would entail. If he had grown so fond of Silver’s friends in such a short timespan, how would the hedgehog himself feel? Despite his sadness, he felt his determination to stay with Silver rise the more he thought about it. If there was anyone who did not deserve to be left alone it was Silver, so he’d make sure he could be there for his friend the best he could. He belonged with Silver, he had said, and he knew it to be nothing but truth. All he could hope for was that the psychic would one day know where he himself belonged, too. Until that day came, and after that too, he’d make sure to stay by his side.</p><p>Not wanted to leave his friend hanging for much longer, he nodded more resolutely as he extended his hand to the Blue Blur. “Goodbye for now, Sonic. It was a pleasure to meet you.” His hand was grabbed firmly, and Sonic beamed as he gave him a thumbs-up. “We’ll meet again soon, I’m sure. Take care of Silver for us. He needs you just as much as you need him.”</p><p>“Do you know where he is?” Venice asked. If he wanted to stay by Silver’s side, of course he’d have to actually be there in the first place!</p><p>“Yep! Do you remember where you-“ Sonic’s voice dropped to a whisper, “-nearly drowned?” He returned to his normal volume as Venice pulled a face at him, though he could feel a smile forming at the edge of his mouth. “He said he’d wait for you there. It’s straight in front of us, just follow the lakeside and you’ll run into him in no time.” With a final ruffle over Venice’s quills and a wave he turned away from the hybrid and the lake. “My legs are itching for a run, so I’ll be off! Be safe, alright?” Venice had barely given his assurance before Sonic blasted off, and all he could do was laugh and wave back at the disappearing streak of blue before he set off towards his friend.</p><p>-----</p><p>Venice found Silver sitting exactly where Sonic had said he would be, leaning against one of the willows as he  overlooked the city and the lake. He was hunched over and appeared to be deeply lost in thought, his backpack uncaringly thrown away to the side. Venice cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly as to not startle the hedgehog, but Silver merely turned his ear towards him, then patted the ground next to him as to invite Venice to sit down as well. The mink hybrid did and waited patiently for his friend to start speaking.</p><p>“This world is beautiful, isn’t it?” Silver murmured softly. His eyes were filled with sadness as he glanced out over the city, the red bridge in the distance, and the mountains, fields and forests beyond it. Venice thought back to what Sonic and Tails told him and how he had felt walking through the area for the last time, and he swallowed thickly.</p><p>“I have a question.” Oops, perhaps that was a bit more firm than he wanted it to sound. Silver stared at the view a bit longer, before turning his attention towards Venice fully. “What is it?”</p><p>“Um.” Venice probably could have prepared this better, he realised as he fumbled to find the words. “I- I was just wondering… we have been staying here for quite some time, even though both of us have recovered completely. Why are we only leaving now, and so unexpectedly?”</p><p>When Venice finished his stuttering Silver had turned towards the view once more, his gaze unreadable. Venice feared he had made his friend angry, but then Silver sighed deeply and his eyes were again filled with sadness.</p><p>“This will sound silly, but… I’m scared.”</p><p>Venice felt his mouth fall open. Silver, actually scared? A few days ago Sonic had told him how frightened Silver was when he had been kidnapped, but he had laughed at the silly notion. Not in Frozen City, not in the Genesis portal, not when rescuing Venice from Eggman’s clutches had the dark grey hedgehog shown anything resembling fright. Even when faced with the threat of a bomb blowing them to smithereens Silver had known exactly what to do, and he had handled accordingly. Venice had never seen him scared, he had deemed his friend fearless! “<em>Scared</em>? But why? You’ve worked so hard, the world simply has to be saved!”</p><p>With that exclamation Silver seemed to recoil even more. “We don’t know that… Remember what I told you when we had just met? This isn’t the first time I have changed the past. And every time I undo the first disaster there is a new one that strikes…” Venice could tell Silver started to get angry. “Every time, I get it wrong. My efforts are always for naught.”</p><p>“Wha-! That’s not true!” Venice jumped up, grabbing Silver’s hands and hoisting the startled hedgehog up with him. He thought back to what he had discussed with Sonic and Tails. “Without you the world would have been left destroyed anyway, with no-one able to subvert anything! You’re making progress! I just know that eventually you’ll get it right!” He stopped shaking Silver’s hands and arms and his gaze turned a bit softer, leaning closer into his friend. “You’re a shining beacon of hope, Silver. Your friends know that you’re here to help them, and they trust you with their lives to make things better. Please, don’t talk about yourself and everything you do that way. You’re the only one who could make such a difference.”</p><p>Silver stared at Venice shockedly for a few long seconds. In the back of his mind, Venice hoped he had said the right things to make him feel better. Then, Silver glanced down and smiled bashfully, staring at his boots. “I suppose you’re right…”</p><p>“You needn’t suppose anything, you know I’m right.” His smug exclamation made Silver laugh a little, and Venice inwardly celebrated his friend’s improved mood. “Yes, yes, alright, I know you’re right.” The hedgehog’s glance trailed back towards the city once more, before falling fully onto Venice again. “Thank you, Venice.”</p><p>“Anytime.” While Venice was glad that Silver had been cheered up, he had wished to ask him another thing as well. Now it was the mink’s turn to glance bashfully at his shoes, fiddling with the grey bracelets on his wrists. “Actually… there is something else I wanted to ask you.”</p><p>“Of course, what is it?”</p><p>Silver’s gentle tone made Venice even more shy. What if he thought his question was stupid? Venice took a deep breath, assured himself that Silver would never think or say such a thing, and decided to just go for it. “Um… I was hanging out with your friends just now. Sonic and Tails were just- just fooling around, and- and they said, um…” Could he even do this? But then he felt Silver grab his hand and give it a small squeeze, as to encourage him. Yes, he could. “They said that they were… brothers. They explained that it wasn’t biologically, but because- because they had such a close bond that nothing could get between them, n- not even the darkest night or the most fearsome storm. It sounded really… I was wondering if you…”</p><p>Venice trailed off completely now, staring at the ground with a huge red blush on his face. A chuckle made him lose his train of thought, and he stared at Silver who was… laughing? But it wasn’t a mocking laugh, it was a laugh filled with affection. Affection aimed at him.</p><p>“Are you asking if you want us to be brothers, Venice?” Silver’s eyes were filled with such love and kindness that it nearly knocked Venice off his feet. He was sure that no-one in his life had ever looked at him that way.</p><p>“…Yes,” he managed to squeak out.</p><p>Silver’s smile broadened. “I think I would like that very much.”</p><p>Venice stayed completely frozen for a few seconds, before launching himself into embracing the very surprised grey hedgehog. “Thank you, thank you!” He could feel a few tears form at the corners of his eyes, burying his face further into Silver’s shoulder as to get rid of them.</p><p>“You’re welcome, Ven. I… I love you.” Silver wrapped his arms around him a bit more tightly and started rocking him. Venice could have sworn the hedgehog was crying as well.</p><p>“And I love you too, Silv.” After some time the two let go of each other. Venice didn’t move away entirely, but reached out to grab Silver’s hand as he had done with him, looking him directly in the eye.</p><p>“Silver… this might sound corny, but I have no words to thank you for everything that you’ve done for me. I know that I often was a handful, or difficult to take care of, and that you could have easily left me in the future, but… thank you, for never giving up on me.”</p><p>With a loving smile Silver carefully placing a hand on Venice’s cheek and stroking it with his thumb. “No, thank <em>you</em>, Venice. I think without you I might just have lost my mind in yet another destroyed future. Besides, you were the one who truly saved the world in the end, not me. And… you were never a handful. I’m grateful for every moment I have spent in your company.”</p><p>The two brothers shared another moment together, before letting go of each other completely. With a sigh, Venice’s looked out over the world of Silver’s past… although, it was his past now too, he realised. Silver’s future would be his future, and whichever era Silver decided to stay in they would stay there together. “It’s time to go back…” Silver murmured. Easily lifting his backpack on his back, he pulled out the Chaos Emerald he had kept and readied it in his hand. “Are you ready, Ven?”</p><p>“As ready as I’ll ever be,” the hybrid responded calmly. Even though he knew Silver dreaded what the future would hold this time, and he himself could only hope for the best, they now both had a brother with them to support them through it all.</p><p>“Good, then watch this. Chaos…. Control!” At the hedgehog’s command, a swirling blue portal opened. Venice stared at it, fully mesmerised by how unexpectedly beautiful it looked. Unlike the purple Genesis Portal this one radiated peace and love, the same love Silver held for the world and all its people, and for him. The psychic clutched the Chaos Emerald in his hand for a moment more, as to thank it, then gently let the gemstone float out of his palm. It disappeared in a flash, to Venice’s surprise.</p><p>“Why did it do that?” he asked Silver as he watched a few sparks of Chaos Energy float away on the breeze.</p><p>Silver chuckled. “The Chaos Emeralds refuse to time-travel along with me. I think it’s to maintain the balance of seven, so that there is not a timeline with only six and another with eight. I prefer to let them go in this way. When they are needed, they will come back to us once more.”</p><p>Silver’s gentle certainty filled Venice with confidence. “Let’s go, then.”</p><p>“Yes.” Silver reached his hand out to him, which he grabbed instantly.</p><p>Not waiting a moment more, The two brothers jumped through the portal. It serenely closed behind them, the branches of the willows calmly flowing through the breeze as the lakeside was left empty. Even though it was unsure what the future had in store for them, Venice had found someone he belonged with… and perhaps, he realised as he and Silver soared through the insides of the blue portal in a moment that took forever and no time at all, Silver had too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Final chapter!!!! :D :D</p><p>Sorry to leave you hanging for like three weeks, I had exams and with the holidays coming up everything got quite hectic! Still, I'm glad to have finished it! I reread the full story yesterday, and I'm immensely proud of what it has become!!</p><p>Hopefully I was able to clear up all the plot points and things that were still left hanging. I myself can't find anything that truly needs to be addressed here! </p><p>I might add another chapter later with my thoughts on the story, but I'm not too sure yet. For now, I wish for everyone to have happy and safe holidays and a good new year! Bye bye!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>